Warframe: Thresholds
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: In all things, there are limits. Barriers. Portals beyond which is it unwise to pass. There are places to which none should travel. For very good reason. This is a fanfiction, I own none of the rights to Warframe. Spoliers for the quests 'The Second Dream', 'The War Within' and 'Apostasy Prelude' will happen. Others spoilers may happen.
1. Chapter 1

**Possibilities**

"I am sorry, Mary. It cannot be done."

The soft words were expected, but they hurt nonetheless. Mary lay in the bed that would be her home for the foreseeable future and tried very hard not to cry. The Tenno child was very weak and hurt still after her month long imprisonment. No one had intended her to be so hurt but it had happened. The horror of her captivity, then the wonder of her rescue. So many people had helped her that they all blurred but two beings stood out in her pain. Healer Iriana had come and gone as needed when Mary was suffering and Grandmaster Nikis had been by a few times, oddly gentle and kind. She hadn't always been awake or coherent when they had been by, so she wasn't sure how many times they had come, but this last time, the scary black warframe had arrived while she was awake. Odd. She wasn't really afraid of him. She should be. She knew that. _Everyone_ was afraid of him. But her? She _wasn't._

Mary wasn't sure why her mother had trusted Nikis of all people to sit with the girl while she took care of her own needs, but he _was_ good company. Odd. Mary had heard much about the Grandmaster of the Guardians of the Dead and _none_ of it suggested he was kind at all. He _did_ worry her, no question. But he was also kind in his own way, so she had asked the question that had been bothering her since she had first woken in the ICU after her rescue.

"I do not understand, Grandmaster." Mary shifted a bit, trying to get comfortable. Tenno hospital beds were fairly comfortable, but lying in one for so long in one was _not_ comfortable no matter how much the bed adjusted to her movements. "He was in a warframe. You say his energy was destroyed. But in my studies, I have read that energy cannot be destroyed. Only changed."

Nikis stared at her and then he chuckled. "Doing homework, are you?"

"Um, yes sir." Mary flushed a little. "I have a lot of free time."

The Nekros warframe nodded. The docs were not going to let her out of their clutches for a long, long time. Good news was that she was not going to die, but she would need extensive help now, both medical and psychiatric. Many in the medical establishment were falling all over themselves to help her after her horrific experience at the hands of some of their own. Not to mention, she had a _lot_ of stalwart defenders. Nikis reached out and patted her hand.

"Good girl." Nikis had a smile in his tone now. "Learn as much as you can. I wish I had been a better student myself sometimes. I have had lots of time to catch up on things, but it cost me a lot way back when. It took a couple of millennia to catch up on what I _thought_ I knew and didn't.." Mary goggled at him, but then schooled her features as he spoke again. "What don't you understand?"

"We Tenno are energy that inhabit meat bodies. We are taught that from the moment we can understand the difference between Tenno and human." Mary said quietly, looking at Nikis for approval. The ancient Nekros nodded. "Tenno Aziz was caught in an energy discharge. I understand that. But why can the energy not be recovered? Recon- Recon- stratated?" She stumbled over the word and flushed, but Nikis patted her hand again.

"I think you mean 'reconstituted'. Big word for a little girl. Means 'put back together'." Nikis said with a nod. Mary nodded quickly and then he slowly shook his head. "Mary, you saw the recording. You saw how much power flowed through where he was. There was nothing left of him. I looked very carefully."

Not every Tenno seven year old was mature enough to handle such things, but Mary had _demanded_ to know what had happened to Aziz. He had been so kind to her when he hadn't needed to be. She had not wanted to accept that he was dead. Several people including Healer Iriana had tried to keep the facts from her, but Mary was true Tenno. That is to say, as stubborn as any rock. She had watched the recording. Then she had watched it again. Only after a third time watching the fictional space battleship Yamato destroy the Formorian -and Aziz- had she allowed herself to break down and cry her heart out, had allowed the healers to ease her gently past the grief and fear that had permeated her entire being for so long. No one wanted to let her hurt now. But having survived such a horrific episode, to be saved and then to _lose_ one of the ones who had saved her in such an awful way hurt. It hurt _a lo_ t. Mary slumped in her bed.

"I know." Mary said in a tiny voice. "But I _have_ to hope. He was so kind to me. I mean, even _I_ know the pragmatic thing would have been to kill me when they found me in that awful room. I did so many bad things."

"Mary..." Nikis shook his head. "Every Tenno has limits. _I_ have limits, girl. Seeing you like this hurts even an old evil scum like me." Mary shook her head and he scoffed. "What? Arguing with a grandmaster now? What kind of Tenno are you?" Mary looked shocked but Nikis just chuckled. "Hey, there. Buck up, kid. I am just messing with ya."

"Grandmaster." Mary said softly. "Why are you acting so nice to me?" She stared around the room, but Nikis didn't react. "I mean, every story I have heard about the Guardians of the Dead says you don't have a heart."

"Because my son is dead." Nikis said quietly. Mary paled and he patted her hand again. "No. No. It ain't your fault. Not at all. Mary, I can't help _him_. I _couldn't_ help him. I _can_ help you and just for a moment, I can be someone _other_ than who I normally am. I don't always _like_ what I have to do, but this?" He reached up to stroke her cheek gently. " _This_ , I can enjoy. Seeing you smile helps me cope."

"I am glad to help." Mary said in a weak voice. Her smile was heartfelt though. "Shouldn't there have been _something_ left though? I don't know what to think. I just… I want to hope, Grandmaster." She pleaded.

"Nothing wrong with hope, Mary." Nikis said with a shrug. "It can be misplaced or misled, but hope itself is rarely a bad thing. We looked close, but none of us is perfect. He has been counted as dead before, so… maybe. I dunno. We all felt it, Mary." Nikis said in a very soft voice and looked at the floor. "We all heard him scream."

" _I_ didn't." Mary said softly but firmly and Nikis nodded. She _was_ true Tenno. If she found a cause she found worthy? Get the hell out of her way, seven years old or no.

"If you want to investigate, you are going to have to ask for others to be your hands and eyes. You are not leaving that bed for a while." Nikis said firmly. Mary looked away, but nodded. "Then comes the hardest part. You have to _trust_ whatever they find." Mary bit her lip and nodded again. "You want me to ask around?"

"With all due respect, Grandmaster Nikis." Mary said softly. "You have made up your mind." Nikis thought about that for a moment and then growled in annoyance. She was right. "I can find someone. Someone I can trust."

"If they cross the Code or me, you know what will happen." Nikis warned. "There are limits for a _reason_. I am a Guardian of the Dead and my duty remains."

"I know." Mary met his face plate calmly. "But I feel… I think I need to do this. I think it will help. May I pursue this inquiry, Grandmaster?"

"I got no cause to say no." Nikis patted her hand yet again. "As I say, I ain't perfect. That said, I know some people who might be interested in helping. They are a little different." Mary looked at him and he chuckled. "Yeah, coming from me, I know that is a little much, but they are."

"Who?"

"The Lotus' kids."

* * *

Far across the solar system

Six hours later

"What do we do _now_?"

The voice of the speaker was plaintive and held more than a trifling amount of fear. The girl speaking wasn't really present. Instead, she and her peers were holographic. Even now, with all of the wondrous advances and rediscoveries, it simply wasn't _safe_ for her to be around others physically. Even Tenno in warframes were not proof from the sheer power of the Zarimon children. That didn't even slow some people down. The group who stood around the main hall of this Tenno dojo considered this children kin and so much more. _Anyone_ who harmed these kids again would pay in blood. Period.

"It is all right, Falcon." Healer Iriana said softly as she move to stand by the holographic girl who wasn't one. Falcon might _look_ ten years old, but she was actually untold thousands of years old. After the accident with the Zarimon, none of the children aged physically at all. That was the _least_ of their problems. "It is going to be all right. You are not alone."

"I know." Falcon said weakly. "But I am scared, Iriana. He just… It just..." She started to cry and one of her brothers stepped to her, taking her in his arms. As a child of Zarimon himself, _Heron_ at least could touch her without fear. "He took our _mom!_ "

"I know." Iriana projected calm and gentleness to the distraught girl and Falcon slowly relaxed in Heron's embrace. "Frankly, _I_ are just as scared as _you_ are. The _last_ time an Executor showed up, bad things happened."

Falcon hiccuped a little, her fear altering to concern for the Healer as she stared at Iriana. Iriana had paid a heavy price when that particular Executor had tried to subvert her will, turn her into a willing slave. She had recovered, eventually, but she would bear scars both mental and physical for the remainder of her days. On the plus side? She had gained a new daughter out of it. Falcon smiled as Janna moved to stand beside her mother, but both were still reeling from the horrors and would be for a long, long time even with the best of medical care.

" _Is_ he an Executor?" Heron sounded as confused as everyone else. "I remember him. Some. It is not clear." Fear shone in the boy's face, fear that was mirrored on every holographic face but one. The fury on one child's face was a terrible, tangible thing.

"Yes." Hawk snapped. "He was. Is." The angry girl shook her head. "Why didn't he die? He should have died with the rest! He deserved to die! He betrayed Margulis and gave her to the others!"

All of the kids looked angry at that and the clan leader slowly shook her head. Warlord Tiana was not a gentle soul much of the time, but she did know the children very well.

"Hawk." The Nyx Prime clad Tenno said quietly. "You of all people know how much the mind can play tricks." Hawk glared at the clan leader, but she did nod, manifestly against her will. "We do not know what happened. All of the few records we Tenno have from that time say the same thing: Margulis died." She bowed her head and all of the corporeal Tenno did likewise. "The Executors killed her for helping you all. Falcon." She moved to the still crying hologram. "What did you see? Exactly as you remember."

The distraught girl swallowed hard and then focused herself. All of the others with visible faces smiled approval as Falcon fought her way past her fear. She had come long way since her revival from the Second Dream. She was still more than a bit on the timid side and far more focused on healing than hurting, but _every_ Tenno who knew her was pledged to her aid. Everyone liked her. Everyone hated seeing her cry.

"I was..." Falcon hiccuped again and then took a deep breath, stilling herself with a Tenno meditation. "I was examining the living quarters I had been given. Thank you by the way." She smiled at Tiana who smiled back.

"You are quite welcome." Tiana had a smile in her voice that matched the girl's as the other children nodded.

The children couldn't ever live in the same place corporeal with normal beings. Even _Tenno_ had trouble dealing with the raw power that they exuded unconsciously. warframes were incredibly durable and easy to repair. So, it simply made sense to use such when dealing with the kids. That did not mean that the Zarimon children had to be confined to the Transference chairs for the rest of their existences. They could get up and move around, especially after the events that Teshin had set in motion, the confrontation with the Grineer Queens that had left them all reeling. Tiana and Iriana in particular had spent a great deal of time with the kids after that, working with them, trying to help them deal with the emotions of such revelations. Such deep personal moments were hard for veteran Tenno. For children who had never been allowed to grow up? Devastating. The _least_ the clan could do to ease their stress had been to make living quarters available in the orbiter. Something far more comfortable than a _chair_. It had taken some doing and more than a bit of cybernetic slight of hand, but they had managed to get each of the hidden orbiters to revamp a section into living quarters. Each child was hidden someplace different. A safety precaution and a needed one with so many enemies about.

Tiana had been the first to visit Falcon's new home and the poor girl had broken down and cried for several minutes as she hugged Tiana's warframe tight enough to damage it. Then she had started to decorate her quarters. Tiana had left her to that, only to be called back quickly after Falcon had experienced something horrible.

The loss of her mother.

"I had set up the bed." Falcon said softly, trying to control herself and Heron hugged her again. "The aquarium was pretty and I hope to get some fish for it sometime." She took a deep breath. "When I moved to the window, I felt a portal. But it wasn't one. It wasn't golden. Darker. Purplish. I thought the Lotus was calling me, so I didn't resist." She visibly steeled herself. "I… I was on Luna. In the place I remember. The landing pad we went to after you removed us from the Reservoir, pulling us out of the Second Dream." She was shaking badly and Tiana slowly shook her head as Heron held her.

"Take your time, Falcon." Iriana said gently. "You are safe. You are here, among friends and family. You are _safe_ , girl." She couldn't ever touch Falcon in the flesh without harm, but she wasn't _about_ to let the girl suffer alone.

"There was a trail of energy." Falcon said weakly. "Purple or blue. I couldn't tell. I knew it was from her, but not why or how. I… I followed the trail. I think I was in a warframe, but I don't know. I..." She gave herself a shake. "Not one I knew. None of the ones I have touched."

At that, Tiana rocked back on her heels. Falcon and her siblings might not ever be able to move around in the real world safely, but they could- And did!- aid Tenno in the field. They added their energy, small bits of it to prevent damage, to Tenno who asked for help. That provided a hell of a force multiplier for any warframe.

Hawk had been experimenting on trying out a warframe _without_ a meat Tenno inside and the results had been more than anyone had expected. She _did_ burn them up, but they were easy to repair and replace. And the fact that she could pop in and out of it had surprised the _hell_ out of _lot_ of people. The Grineer Queens in particular had been shocked when Hawk had stepped out of her warframe in front of them, beaten their Guardians to a pulp and then _stolen_ the scepter that had been their Orokin authority! _Tiana_ had been shocked that Hawk had let Teshin kill the one who had enslaved him for so long, but that had been Hawk's choice. Tiana found that she _liked_ that angry energy girl and she knew she wasn't alone.

"And then?" Iriana asked gently when Falcon buried her face in Heron's shoulder.

"I saw the wrecked Reservoir." Falcon mumbled through her brother's shoulder. "There was a hole. The trail led in, so I jumped in." She shook her head. "When I hit bottom, I was _me_ , not a warframe. I felt safe, but I _wasn't!_ "

"Easy." Iriana crooned, her face so sad. "Falcon, it is okay. It is okay."

"No, its not!" Falcon cried. "I saw her! I saw the Lotus! She was standing there. She bid me welcome but then… _He_ touched me and I couldn't _move!_ I couldn't move or say anything! She called him Ballas! He took her and _I couldn't do a_ _thing!_ " She was sobbing hard now.

"Stop." A firm, hard voice sounded and everyone spun to see _Nikis_ stride into the room. Everyone, corporeal and not, stiffened, but the pitch black Nekros warframe did not stop. He strode up to where Falcon was recoiling in horror and… _pulled her holographic form_ _up_ _into an embrace!_ He held her tight even as his warframe started to _smoke_. "You are not alone. I have my arguments with your mother, but you are not alone. Do not cry, Sister. You are not alone." He growled that and more than one of the onlookers stared. For her part? Hawk smiled a little.

"Let go!" Falcon begged. "Let go, Grandmaster Nikis! _Please!_ I will _hurt_ you!"

"No. I won't let you hurt me." Nikis' warframe as suddenly covered in orange energy. The smoke faded. "I am an old, evil, hating Tenno, but there are limits to _everything_. You lot have been hurt _enough_. Until we find your Mom, _I_ stand with you and for you."

"What?" That incredulous sound came from every throat. Nikis growled at them.

"You lot hard of hearing?" He gave Falcon a squeeze. "Buck up, kid. This is bad, no question. But we can help and we will. Ya is kin. Hayden himself said so and I ain't gonna argue with the First Tenno."

"Really?" A golden hologram appeared in the middle of everything. Hayden Tenno was smirking. "A first time for _everything_ , huh Nikis?"

"You hush." Nikis snarled, but it was humorous rather than scary as Falcon stared at him. "Easy, girl. Easy. Its gonna be okay." He didn't comfort well, but he was trying.

"What is going on?" Falcon begged as she relaxed a little.

"Apostasy."


	2. Chapter 2

**Amoral or evil?**

"Apostasy."

Iriana's voice was hushed as she stared from Nikis to the shade of the First Tenno and back. Then her gaze hardened. " _Who_ are you and _what_ have you _done_ with Nikis?" She was not expecting the golden hologram who stood in the midst of the group to _laugh_. "What?"

"Healer..." Hayden said with a smile. "This _is_ Nikis. Not even the Orokin dared to impersonate him. They tried once." The shade shook his head. " _Once._ " He enunciated and winced hard in memory.

"I didn't kill any of those." Nikis gave Falcon another squeeze. Hayden muttered something about 'not that nice' that Nikis ignored. "You okay, darling?"

"I… Um..." Falcon seemed at a loss for words. Everyone did. "How are you doing this? I... No one can touch me even as a hologram."

"No one else can. Janet and I are working together to do it." Nikis said quietly. "Can't do it forever, but you needed the help." He shook his head. "Ballas. Should have let me shoot that SOB, Hayden."

"We were not supposed to get involved, Nikis." Hayden said with a shrug. "In hindsight? Yeah. I should have. He was just about directly responsible for everything that happened. But even _you_ couldn't go around popping off _Executors_ willy-nilly. They would not have reacted well."

"The man pissed me off." Nikis snarled, but then laid Falcon back in her chair. Heron was staring at him in mixed horror and awe. The Nekros shook his head. "I can't do that for all of you. She needed the help."

"She did." Heron moved back to his sister's side and laid a hand on her holographic shoulder. "If I may ask? _How_ did you do that? Is it repeatable?"

"No. As to how? High energy physics." Nikis replied. "Sixty three power sinks, high power enhanced shields and a telepathic link to a precognitive who can tell when energy discharges will happen so I can shut the power to the sinks. Hurts, but pain and I are old friends." Everyone's eyes went wide at that. He shrugged. "Girl needed the help. She was one small step from losing it completely."

"Thank you." Falcon said weakly. "I..."

"You watched your mother taken from you." Nikis patted her arm. "You couldn't do anything. I know the feeling."

"Nikis..." Hayden said softly.

"I ain't ever gonna forget, Hayden." Nikis growled. "Nyx and Trinity did what they could and I can deal with it. But I ain't ever gonna forget." Hayden bowed his head and there was utter silence for a long moment.

"Forget what?" Falcon asked tremulously.

"Forget my dad ignoring my mom as she died of a long, lingering disease." The pitch black Nekros might have been carved from stone now. "He dove into a bottle and let her rot. Me and my sister did what we could. Not much. Not enough. I found her, after." Falcon looked horrified and Nikis shook his head. Hawk nodded slowly, her face shuttered. "Ancient history, girl. But I do know about losing a mom and not being able to do a damn thing about it."

"I am sorry." Falcon slumped in her chair and Nikis patted her arm again.

"None of what happened to you was your fault, girl." Nikis reassured her. "You better?"

"Better." Falcon smiled a little. "Thank you."

"Don't spread it." Nikis had a smile in his voice but it changed to a growl as he glared around. "That goes for _everyone_. I need to keep the rep up or people get stupid."

"And start _dying_." Hayden shook his head. "I don't think anyone here is that stupid, Nikis." He grinned as _everyone_ shook their heads in unison. " _I_ am not."

"Apostasy." Tiana said, more to change the subject than to clarify. "That means the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief. _Ballas_ is an apostate?"

"He rebelled against Orokin after they killed Margulis." Nikis said with a growl. "Or so we were told. We were _also_ told he was dead. Wonder just how many lies they fed us."

"He called the Lotus 'Margulis'." Falcon said weakly. "But she isn't." Nikis looked at her and she seemed to wilt. "She _isn't!_ "

"No, she isn't." Nikis agreed. "Everyone here knows what the Lotus is." He looked around and most nodded as he looked at them. Hawk was glaring at him and Nikis shrugged. "I got my problems with your mom, girl. I don't like her. I don't trust her. Even at my worst though, I never doubted that she did what she thought was best. Didn't _agree_ with it, mind you." He said sourly. "But anyone who will do what the Lotus did for love is worth knowing or at least _watching_."

"She is a Sentient." Falcon sounded as if she wanted to choke those words back down as soon as she said them. "Was a Sentient."

"She doesn't talk much about her past." Hayden said quietly. "For very good reason. What the Sentients did, what the _Orokin_ did,... No one was 'good' in the Old War. Not Sentient, not human, not Tenno. _No one_. The Lotus did what she did for you kids. That makes her better than most, but no one here has the slightest doubt that she can be pragmatism personified. She did evil many times to protect you and the Tenno."

"She is not Margulis!" Falcon repeated.

"Falcon." Nikis slowly shook his head. "We don't know what happened on Luna when Margulis was taken before the Executors. We can't. We were not there and any records that might have existed are long gone. Orokin was a time of wonders and horrors. They did a lot of things that turned my stomach." For _him_ to say _that_ … Ouch. Every visible face looked sick. "Who is to say that they didn't send her to the blue star? That would have been a death sentence."

"I..." Falcon was crying again and Heron held her. "She doesn't remember that."

"She _says_ she doesn't." Nikis corrected her grimly. "You know she doesn't always tell the truth." Falcon wanted to deny that. Her face showed she wanted to deny with all of her heart. But she couldn't. The Grandmaster of the Dead shook his head. "I looked for her during the war. I was curious about this strange woman who simply appeared about of nowhere to help the Tenno who the Orokin had created." His tone was odd. Part rage, part awe. "I didn't expect what I found."

" _Did_ you find her?" Falcon asked. "We were asleep by then." Nikis looked at Hayden who shrugged.

"I don't think it matters now, Nikis." Hayden said quietly. "You never gave her your word and after what happened to your son..." Hayden made a sour face. "You may overreact, old friend but no one blames you for feeling betrayed."

"No." Nikis looked at the ceiling for a long moment and then shook his head. "I didn't give her my word, but I won't violate her secrets either." He looked at Falcon. "Yes, I found her. She and I talked for quite a while. We parted as uneasy allies." He looked away. "Then Dustin's mess happened and I turned my back on everyone. I have hated her for a long, long, _long_ time for trying to command me to leave him in those quacks' care." His warframe slowly relaxed. "That ain't gonna change. I still hate her for what happened to Dustin and I will. That said? You lot don't deserve this."

"I am sorry." Falcon said in a miserable voice. She gave a squeak as Nikis reached out to tickle her chin. "Hey!" She batted at his hand, stunned.

"Buck up, girl." Nikis said kindly. "This is bad, no question. Lots of people are going to be wondering what the hell just happened. _I_ was more than a bit shocked when I tried to contact her and got a pink copy instead. Lots of people will freak and some will take advantage."

"Why were you trying to talk to her?" Falcon asked very carefully. "Or, can I ask such?" Instead of answering, Nikis looked at Iriana who put a hand to her face. The Healer started shaking her head. Falcon's face turned concerned. "Healer?"

"Nikis was with _Mary_." Iriana said softly. Every visible face twisted into a grimace at that. The kid had gone through hell. The Zarimon children understood such ordeals far too well. "She has to let it go, Nikis!"

"She can't, Healer. She didn't see or hear it happen. She won't believe." Nikis moved to the Healer and laid a gentle hand on her arm. "And, frankly? She needs to focus on something other than her pain for a bit. Is this a bad thing?"

"He is _gone_ , Nikis!" Iriana snapped and then slumped. "I am sorry, I am sorry."

"What he did angered a lot of people." Nikis had a frown in his voice that shone right through his warframe faceplate. "But it saved a lot more. Hell, I was just as angry as you were when I first heard. Using the Library like that was _wrong_. But he _did_ save the colony."

"At the cost of his own life." Iriana said sadly. "I screamed at him, Nikis. I called him so many horrible things. I compared him to an Orokin!"

"I know." Nikis said dryly "You were not very discrete about that." She swatted at him and he chuckled. "Come on, Healer. He may be gone, but he did a good thing. He is gone. Mary is not."

"What does Mary want?" Falcon asked. "I know she has been very weak and sick, so I haven't tried to visit. I would need her parents' permission anyway." She made a face. "Rules are so inconvenient sometimes." Nikis and Iriana both glared at her and she held up hands as if toward them off. "I know! I know! I won't press. She is just a kid." More than one person scoffed at that and she smiled naturally for the first time in a while. A being who looked ten years old saying such things _was_ more than a bit funny. "Okay… Yeah. A bit of the pot and the kettle in that as you say, Grandmaster Nikis."

"Mary wants to search the area where he died, see if his energy was changed into anything that might be recoverable." Nikis said quietly. Everyone stared at him and he shook his head. "I looked, but I will be the first to say I am not perfect. I was a bit distracted by the reading and then by all the angst. I haven't had a chance to look again."

"You want us to look?" Heron asked as the other children looked interested.

"I want _Hawk_ to look." Nikis replied and everyone stiffened as Hawk recoiled from him. A first. She glowered at him and he ignored it. "She has the best senses for such things."

"Not _alone_." Iriana and Tiana both snapped in unison. Hawk glowered at _them_ , but both corporeal female Tenno were unmoved.

"Yeah." Nikis shrugged. "Martin, front and center." His words were calm, quiet even. They were also a command. A Harrow warframe all but ran to stand in front of Nikis and braced almost to attention. Nikis shook his head. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Um, Nikis..." Martin gulped. "I take responsibility." Everyone looked at each other, confused. All but one. Hawk wasn't confused or angry now. Was she _scared?_

"Not here. Not now." Again, calm, reserved. But fury sang underneath.

"It is not his fault!" More than one of the watchers gasped as Hawk moved to stand beside Martin. "I asked him! I did it and he had no idea what I was going to do!" She stood as if ready to fight! Fight _Nikis?_ What?

" _Not now_." This time, Nikis snarled. "Later. In private. There are things we do _not_ discuss in public. For very good reasons."

"Nikis?" Iriana asked when no one moved. "What is going on? Now matter what Hawk has done, I won't let you hurt her." At that, Hawk seemed to wilt.

"Healer, stand down." Hawk said weakly when Iriana would have moved to her side. "I messed up. It is my fault."

"Shut up, girl. Not going to hurt you." Nikis wasn't angry now. "I am angry but not so much with you. You were curious, no more. But _you!_ " A finger speared the Harrow and the dark bearded warframe seemed to wince as the Nekros poked him in the chest. "You _kn_ _e_ _w_ better!"

"What did you _do?_ " Iriana demanded of Hawk.

"I can't say, Healer." Was Hawk about to cry? "I didn't mean to, Grandmaster!"

"Zip it!" Nikis snarled.

"Why?" A new voice asked and everything seemed to stop as another form shimmered into being nearby. Not quite golden, more gray. She- yes, this was female Tenno – stood as if ready to fight. She was not in warframe. She was ageless as only Tenno seemed to be. She had dark hair and piercing brown eyes. Hayden rounded on her but she shook her head. "I am not talking to you, Hayden Tenno." He looked at her and shut his mouth, obviously fighting to hold his tongue But _why?_ He was the First! "Nikis. _Why_ must she be silent?"

"Because when she blabs, she gets you riled and then you do stupid shit." Nikis snapped.

"She didn't mean to wake me up, Nikis." The other said quietly. "I took no offense. Why are _you?_ "

"She-" Iriana inhaled as realization struck. Hawk had accessed the database that held Tenno and Orokin shades! She had woken a Tenno shade! One of the Tenno ancestors! From the looks of the holographic clothing? A very _old_ one. _Oh SHIT!_

"No one here is in any danger from me." The newcomer said quietly. "I am dead. _Finally_." She growled. "No thanks to _either_ of _you_." Why did both Nikis _and_ Hayden wince at that? "The girl was curious, Nikis. Is _that_ a crime now?"

" _Not here!_ " Nikis snapped. "Kat, not _here!_ There are things that can _never_ be said. You of all people know that!"

"What I _know_ is that the wolf is free at long last and you will _never_ cage her again." The woman shimmered, her form fading even as Nikis threw energy at her. It went right through her and did nothing. A howl of wolven glee sounded from nowhere. "Too slow, old man. See you around!"

Another howl sounded and then faded. Nikis cursed vilely even as Hawk wilted. Martin did not move as Nikis spun to glare at him. Hayden cleared his throat and Nikis relaxed a little. Just a little.

"Is this a problem?" Tiana asked carefully.

"Um, sort of. Hopefully for us, not for you." Hayden said with a sigh. " _We_ screwed up. Kat didn't _want_ to become Tenno and we didn't understand the mechanics in those days. It happened against her will." At that, every Tenno in the _room_ stiffened and Hayden nodded. "She is angry and she has _cause_. She was sleeping peacefully until a little curious bird came by and woke her up."

"I didn't mean to!" Hawk was all but blubbering. "I swear!"

"Shut up!" Nikis snarled. "Martin, you will take Hawk and _scour_ the area where Aziz was destroyed. I have the precise coordinates of the final energy discharge. You will search that and the debris of the Formorian. You will look for _anything_ out of the ordinary. You will peruse every _fragment_ of debris, every _speck_ of dust until _I_ say you are done." Martin nodded. More than one person winced. That was a _large_ section of space. Lot of dust and debris in that area. Searching such might take _years_.

"Wow, _vicious_ much?" Kat's voice came from nowhere, coldly mocking.

"Don't say a word." Nikis said as Hawk opened her mouth. She shut it. "I am angry, but not really with _you_. You didn't know. It isn't your fault, Martin's fault or even _Kat's_ fault. It is _my_ fault and _Hayden's_." Hayden nodded. " _We_ are to blame. Go."

Martin bowed formally and after a moment, Hawk did the same. They both strode from the room, Hawk's posture defeated.

"Nikis?" Iriana said weakly. "What the hell?"

"Kat was human." Hayden said sadly. "She worked with us. We thought we had protected her well enough. We were wrong."

"You were wrong. Oh boo hoo." Kat's voice came from nowhere again. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. 1st rule of _any_ human group and apparently Tenno as well. _Everyone lies_."

"We never lied to you, Kat. You were a friend We tried to help! We still want to help! _Let us!_ " Hayden tried again. "I know you are trying to get Nikis to destroy you. He won't!"

"Yes, he _will_." Kat snapped. "I just have to push hard enough. Be the monster _you_ made me."

"You are _not_ a monster, Kat!" Hayden was clearly losing patience. "You never _were_. This is our fault, yes. We can fix this!"

"How?" Kat demanded. "Put me back to sleep and never let me wake? _PUT ME BACK IN A CAGE?_ " Another howl, this time of pure rage. Nikis threw energy to the side and it covered something that howled in pain before vanishing. "Nice try, _boy!_ "

Nikis snarled as a portal flared nearby and a half seem gray form vanished into it. The Nekros flared golden and vanished as well. Hayden stared at the others and sighed deeply.

"We screwed up." Hayden said sadly. "She paid for our folly. We hoped to help her, put her back into a human body, but the transition drove her mad. We couldn't help her, so we did the next best thing. We let her sleep. Hawk didn't know. This wasn't her fault. It was and is mine."

"Is she..." Tiana swallowed hard. "Is she an enemy?"

"Of the Tenno of this time, no." Hayden said sadly. "She is so very angry. She can only hurt us as we are and she really only wants me, Nyx and Trinity dead. She _has_ hurt us in the past and in this time, but she cannot destroy us as we are and that makes her even angrier. We promised her we would help and we didn't. We can't."

"Can _anyone?_ " Falcon asked, empathy singing in her voice.

"I don't know, Falcon." Hayden said sadly. He took a deep breath. "No matter what, Nikis spoke for all of us, shade and not. You and your siblings are kin. Even Hawk is kin, as angry as Nikis is with her and Martin at the moment. Martin had no idea what Hawk was doing. _She_ had no idea what she was doing. She was just as horrified by what happened as _we_ were. To her credit, Hawk tried to get Kat to go back to sleep, but the wolf wouldn't."

"What will happen to Kat?" Janna asked as she moved to stand by Iriana.

"I wish I knew, Janna." Hayden admitted.

"I wish I knew."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sanctuary**

Sister Katerina was bored.

She knew that was not a good thing. As always, she focused on her duties to the Clergy as well as her faith and she usually had a lot of things to do. But now? The newest Reverend Mother had spread Katerina's duties out among the Clergy in an attempt to lighten her workload. Noble, to be sure, but misguided. Katerina was a _shade_. She wasn't alive like the other Clergy. She was trapped in the power systems that ran the ancient cloister called the Convent. It had been her refuge for so long and she could never leave it. Normally, she could access datafeeds and work to help her Clergy compatriots clandestinely. Now? She couldn't do that. Nikis and the Reverend Mother had completely blown her cover. She was now an _overt_ part of the Clergy, part of their massed minds, if a bit separate due to her afflictions, bound by their rules and restrictions. Her duties had been shared out and she found herself with nothing to do.

Katerina sighed and sent the cleaning bots to scour the floors again. Then she started her daily prayers. It was too soon and she knew it was. She would finish far too soon and have nothing to do again, but-

The pop of a portal from a distant corner of the quiet facility had the shade tensing. No one was supposed to be able to access this place via portal! _Nikis_ could, but he was a law unto himself and routinely did things that scared the sane and insane alike. She checked her sensors and video feeds, but there was nothing. Was there? Was someone crying? Someone female?

"Hello?" Katerina asked carefully. "Is someone here?"

She was wary. No one should have been able to access this place. The small facility was built into a converted asteroid. Said asteroid had been yanked form its own orbit and hidden in the deepest recesses of Neptune's atmosphere. It was small, inert to all forms of sensor and protected by the best shielding available to the Corpus. That was not saying much. Despite all of their claims, even the _best_ of Corpus tech was a pale imitation of the splendor that had suffused human civilization under Orokin. That said? It was the best available to humans at the moment since Orokin had fallen. She checked with the other Clergy and the on-shift personnel responded with confusion that matched her own. No one but Nikis should have been able to get in after they had upgraded the systems. The abduction of Healer Iriana from the supposedly secure facility had been both frightening and infuriating. The only other access was a long carbon fiber cable that led an elevator here. Said cable was two hundred kilometers long. Sure, Corpus elevators were fast, but…

A gasp came from nowhere. There was no one there. Katerina tensed. She still remembered the violation of her security by Tenno fanatics with a pang. It had worked out, in the end. Janna and Iriana had both survived and by all accounts were thriving. But it had hurt, seeing them both vanish from her care. Hearing the awfulness that had happened to both of them. She missed Janna so much. It was part of Katerina's penance for the evil she had done, to see friends age and die while she herself remained as she had been since destroying several insane Orokin shades and fleeing Nikis' wrath.

"Do I know you?" The voice was familiar and Katerina felt her non-existent breath catch as a familiar gray form shimmered into being in front of one of her camera feeds. The woman was staring around, obviously scared. Katerina knew her. Knew her and feared for her! If _she_ was here, _Nikis_ was not far behind! And what had been done to her was a horror by anyone's definition. She forced her mind to still. She couldn't share this with _anyone_. Not even the Reverend Mother. The leader of the Clergy _would_ understand, Katerina knew. Eventually. But right now? The bound shade _had_ to help her friend. Her _abused_ friend.

" _Kat?_ " The shade asked, working hard to keep fear from her voice. The spectral woman tensed to flee and Katerina spoke quickly. "No, no, Kat. It is okay. Easy, girl. I am not your enemy. Do you remember me? My name is Katerina."

"Katerina?" The gray energy woman asked, confused. "I don't… wait… Banshee?" She asked, her stance suddenly tense.

"Not anymore." Katerina fought to keep her voice level. She succeeded and the other slowly relaxed. "I am not Tenno anymore. The um… Oh girl." She was all but crying as Kat stared around wildly. "I can't come to you. I am stuck. Turn right. Take the door. I am in the room at the end of the hall."

She smiled as Kat started down the hall. Shades didn't need to walk or open doors, but they often did. It helped many of them to remember who and what they had been. They were not the ghosts of human folklore. They were both more and less than that. Katerina smiled as the door to her prison opened and the technological remnant of the woman she had befriended so long again stepped in, her entire posture one of readiness to flee. Katerina smiled in welcome and the other relaxed a little. The Clergywoman shade nodded from her kneeling posture.

"Hello Kat." The imprisoned shade beckoned but the other did not move. "How did you get loose?"

"Are you going to report me?" Kat asked warily. "Call Nikis?"

"Not a chance in _hell!_ " The Clergywoman retorted angrily. "What they did to you was _wrong_." She said firmly. "You were not sick. You wanted an end. You _accepted_ your end." She slumped a bit. "Excalibur and I accepted your choice. The others..." She bit back a sob. "I am sorry, Kat."

"B… Banshee..." Kat stared at the other and then she was crying. "Oh my god, _Banshee!_ What have they _done_ to you?" The gray shade demanded as she stepped in.

"I mostly did this to myself." Katerina said sourly. "I um… You were stuck in the database. They wouldn't let you out or let you pass. Assholes." She waved at the floor nearby. "Sit with me?"

"He is chasing me." Kat said weakly. "He will catch me again. Throw me back into that hell."

"Not if I can help it." Sister Katerina felt a calm settle over her. She lived to help others and this was a friend. "My name is Sister Katerina now. This is the Convent. A cloister from long ago that is rarely used in this day and age. This is my prison." Kat stared at her, anger rising and Katerina raised a placating hand. "I did something horrible and fled my punishment. Nikis _could_ have destroyed me when he found me here. I ran from the database and I am sick. I can never go back or be with any of my kin." At that, Kat stiffened.

"No." The gray woman pleaded as she sat, but she was still tensed to flee. "Excalibur… He… You were _mated!_ "

"Yeah." Katerina sighed in regret. "We were. We are. We have talked a few times, he and I. But I am sick, Kat. I cannot ever go back. I am a danger to people. Even you. No!" She begged as Kat held out a hand. "Do not touch me. I can hurt you by accident but it wouldn't _kill_ you. It would just hurt you or worse, _infect_ you with this and that is the _last_ thing I want to do right now. Tenno have hurt you _enough!_ "

"Why won't they just _destroy me?_ " Kat begged, tears falling as her hand fell to her side. "That is _all_ I ever asked."

"Shame." The woman who once had been a Tenno called Banshee sighed. "Our shame drives us to try and help you. Our honor, such as it is, demands that we do whatever we can to try and fix what we did. We didn't plan this. We didn't want this any more than _you_ did. But it happened and the others have to try and fix it. Excalibur and I agreed with you that you had the right to seek an end. The others disagreed." She paused. "That is why you are here, isn't it?"

"I am not sure. I felt a pull." Kat said softly. "I don't know what it was or why. I was fleeing Nikis and I was pulled here. It wasn't any feeling I know."

"I cannot destroy you, Kat." The Clergywoman said sadly. "If I could, then no matter the cost to myself, I _would_. You have suffered enough." Kat stared at her, hope dying in her eyes. Katerina held up a hand. "That said, I know a lot of people who are good at keeping secrets and who have access to a lot of information. I won't be able to hide your presence here from them, but they are very good at keeping secrets."

"From Nikis?" Kat growled, an echo of a wolf's plaintive howl in her tone.

"Uh, no." The bound shade grunted. Hiding things from him didn't work. "But there are options. Things that even _Nikis_ won't cross."

"Really?" Kat asked. "Um…. I wasn't aware he had any boundaries."

"Kat, you know better than that." The clergy shade chided her friend gently. "You know from firsthand experience how powerful he is. If he had no boundaries, there wouldn't be _anyone_ left _alive_ in this solar system. Sooner or later, _everyone_ pisses him off." Kat chuckled at that and relaxed a little. Katerina's next words had the gray shade flinching again. "I need to call someone else in. She is a friend and she too was Tenno once. She can help."

"Can she be trusted?" The gray shade demanded.

"For this?" Katerina said sourly. "Oh, I think she will be just as pissed with what was done to you as _I_ am." The other stared at her and Katerina pursed her lips. "Kat, the Reverend Mother of the Clergy is many things. She has to be pragmatic. She has to see the big picture. She was Tenno once. However, she is _also_ a woman _and_ a mother. She understands both human _and_ Tenno viewpoints. She _will_ be pissed. Even Nikis steps carefully around her and the Clergy. He is powerful, but he knows not to fuck around with us. With _her_. Her anger scares _everyone_ shitless."

"You swear more than any nun I ever imagined." Kat said with a grin. The bound shade grinned right back.

"I am Clergy, not a nun." Katerina stuck out her tongue as Kat shook her head. "May I call the Reverend Mother?"

"I guess." Kat sighed. "Nikis cannot be far behind me. He never is. Will he hurt you?" Concern for her friend was rising.

" _Can_ he? Sure. _Will_ he? Not if he has any brains at all." Katerina snarled and focused her mind. Then she spoke both aloud and in her mind. "Reverend Mother? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

 _I have a few minutes, Katerina._ The Reverend Mother sounded so weary that Katerina felt her eyes start to burn. The woman pushed herself so hard. From her look of shock, Kat heard the words too.

"Are you sleeping enough?" Katerina asked, concern rising. Kat stared at her and Katerina waved for her to remain silent.

 _Sleep?_ The Reverend Mother asked sourly _What is this 'sleep' thing you speak of? If it isn't the Board or the Grineer, it is the_ **kids** _._

"What did they do _now?_ " Katerina groaned.

 _Conner Z-6 started a f_ _ood fight._ _They_ **all** _joined in eventually._ The Reverend Mother chuckled. _The mess hall is aptly named at the moment. What can I do for you, Katerina? I know you are bored. We have all been scrambling, trying to figure out what the hell is going on with the Lotus._

"I _was_ bored." Katerina admitted. "I am not _now_. If you have some free time, I could _really_ use some company right about now." She winked at Kat who stared at her.

 _Are you in danger?_ The Reverend Mother demanded.

"No." Katerina replied instantly and gave a code that reassured the Clergy as whole that she was herself and not under duress. "There may be some danger in the very near future, but not at the moment."

 _I am on my way._ The Reverend Mother said softly. _Should I bring anyone?_ Kat shook her head savagely and Katerina smiled to reassure her.

"If you wish." The bound shade waved when Kat would have spoken and Kat closed her mouth. "If I say 'no' you will bring whoever you want anyway and if I say 'yes', you will sound the alarm. So, whatever." Kat stared at her friend and her mouth slowly curled in a smile.

 _I know you are bored, Sister Katerina._ The Reverend Mother was both resigned and sad now. _I was trying to help._

"You did." Katerina reassured the much younger woman. "Everything has been shaken up with the Lotus going silent and all. Oh _shit!_ " She exclaimed as something bad impinged her sensors. She snarled. "Reverend Mother! Intruder! Get here _fast!_ Until you do… I request permission to offer sanctuary to a lost soul."

 _A lost…_ The Reverend Mother paused and when she spoke again, it was cold and hard. _Is she listening?_

It did _not_ surprise Katerina that the Reverend Mother knew about Kat. It _did_ surprise her that the Clergy leader was so calm.

"What?" Kat demanded, she started to rise and Katerina held up both of her hands.

"She is here. She is _scared!_ She going to _run!_ " Katerina begged. " _Please!_ "

 _Granted. I come._ The Reverend Mother's voice cut off.

Kat was on her feet now, but Katerina shook her head.

"Nikis is here, but I upgraded the sensor baffling and I am not where I was the last time. He cannot detect me or you while you are in this room. He has to search room by room." The bound shade said sternly as Kat tensed to flee. "Kat! If you run, he _will_ find you! _We_ can protect you! Claim sanctuary!"

"What?" Kat stammered, undone by all this. She could feel the dark malevolence that was Nikis approaching. He wasn't hiding himself.

"He _wants_ you to flee. He _wants_ you to run, to quit this place. This may be the _only_ safe place for you in this _entire_ solar system!" Katerina rose and held out a hand to her friend. "Claim sanctuary, Kat! Say the word 'Sanctuary'! _NOW!_ " She begged.

"Sanctuary?" Kat half stated, half asked and Katerina nodded.

"Granted."

Kat stared as Katerina seemed to swell, but then, somehow, the Clergywoman shade was between Kat and the door with her arms folded when it opened.

"You stupid..." The pitch black Nekros stared at the pair of shades in shock. "You _didn't_." Why wasn't he attacking? Kat was vulnerable here. He could take her in a heartbeat. Why wasn't he? His _job_ was to fight and sometimes kill shades. Why wasn't he attacking?

"Begone!" Katerina snapped. "You are not welcome in this holy place, Tenno. _Begone!_ "

"You can't hold her, Katerina." Nikis wasn't angry. If anything, he was sad! "She won't stay here."

"We are not _going_ to _hold_ her, you _asshole_." _That_ was pure angry Banshee. " _You_ may refuse to end her pain, but she was and _is_ my friend! I _will_ find a way!"

"You cannot keep her here. As for destroying her?" Nikis said softly. He looked at Kat, but Katerina moved between them. "You don't know what you are saying, girl."

"And I don't _care!_ " Katerina snarled. "How many times must you hurt my friend? How many times must you _cage_ her spirit?" Nikis actually recoiled at that. "I won't let you torture her again." She warned. "Begone. The _only_ way you are touching her is over my decaying form."

" _Our_ decaying forms." The Reverend Mother strode into view. She pushed right past the Nekros to stand beside Katerina, her own hands loose and ready. "And yes, I know what she is and what _you_ did." Her glare would have rendered any human down to ash. It bounced off the Nekros. She shook her head. "We are _all_ in agreement. The _only_ way you are touching Kat is over the corpses of every _single_ Clergy." Nikis glared at her and she shook her head. "No. Not the Special Forces. They are not bound by our vows."

"Stay out of my head, woman." Nikis warned.

"Then don't throw you _thoughts_ around so loudly." The Reverend Mother retorted. " _He_ will likely be just as angry as _I_ am. I bet Rachel and Jasmina won't be happy either. _No one_ will be. This… This travesty ends here. You _will_ leave or I will _make_ you leave. Live or die, I _will_ make you leave."

Kat stared as Nikis _retreated_ a step back from the Reverend Mother's ire. In all of her waking moments, Kat had _never_ seen the Grandmaster of the Guardians of the Dead _retreat_ from _anything_. Things retreated from _him_ , not the other way around.

"You don't understand." Nikis said quietly.

"No?" The Reverend Mother snarled. "So, you _didn't_ make us memorize the cautionary tale of the Kat Wolf as initiates?" Nikis actually winced and Kat stared harder. "You _didn't_ instruct us in the ancient shame? I seem to remember you doing that and I _doubt_ I am alone. Get out." That last was a command.

"I have my duty." Nikis protested.

" _AND IN THIS CASE IT IS WRONG!_ " The Reverend Mother shouted. " _I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE HER! GET OUT!_ "

She advanced on the Nekros and Nikis _backed up!_ Kat stared from her to Katerina to Nikis, her mouth ajar.

"She won't stay. She can't stay in any one place long." Nikis said quietly. "When she leaves, I will be watching and waiting. I will try not to hurt her. You have my word on that."

To Kat's stunned amazement, the Reverend Mother raised her hands and they started to glow with golden energy! Nikis nodded to her and then the ultra scary Nekros _vanished_. The Reverend Mother's hands stopped glowing and she slumped, shaking.

"Reverend Mother, are you all right?" Katerina begged as the woman turned to look at the pair of shades.

"No." The leader of the Clergy said with a sigh. Then she smiled at Kat who was all but trembling. "But this is the right thing to do. Hello, Kat. Be at peace. I know who and what you are. I know you can't stay. That your nature will force you to move on sooner rather than later. But you are safe here."

"How did you do that?" Kat asked, not quite pleading. "Nikis runs from no one."

"No _one_ , true." The Reverend Mother smiled and then she leaned against the wall for a moment, obviously drained by whatever she had done. "But even _Nikis_ knows better than to charge a _faith_ head on. That Tenno may be stubborn as a rock, but faith can and _has_ moved _mountains_. He knew he had no chance."

"I don't understand." Kat said weakly.

"I know." The Reverend Mother sighed deeply and then shook her head. "We need to talk and this is a safe place for you to rest for a bit. Will you stay?"

"Will he…?" Kat swallowed hard. "I don't want to cause trouble for Bansh-… for _Katerina_." She corrected herself.

"We know who she was, who she _is_. She is with us and she spoke for us all." The Reverend Mother reassured the gray shade. She moved to where Katerina had been sitting before and slowly sank to her knees. "Come sit. We have a lot to talk about."

Kat stared at Katerina who shrugged and moved back to where she had been. She knelt too. Both clergywoman waited for Kat to make up her mind. Kat shook her head and then moved to join them,

"I guess we do."


	4. Chapter 4

**Past squabbles**

The wolf was uneasy. She did sit though. That was a win.

The Reverend Mother smiled at her, but it was melancholy. She slowly shook her head. "I remember being taught about you. What happened to you. But seeing you." She took a deep breath. "I am sorry."

"Everyone is sorry!" Kat snapped. "Everyone is always so fricking sorry! I don't want _sorry!_ I want an end! Can you do that?"

"I don't know." The leader of the Clergy replied honestly. Kat stared at her and then forced herself to relax a little. "If you were human or Tenno, the answer would be yes, but you are not." Katerina made a noise of grief and the Reverend Mother shook her head. "She doesn't want pity, Sister Katerina and you know it. Be calm."

"Yes, Reverend Mother." The bound shade said with a nod.

"What were you taught about me?" Kat asked after a moment's thought.

"You were a soldier who had something horrible done to you." The Reverend Mother said with a nod. "It didn't kill you. It made you faster, stronger and far more resilient than a normal human, but in the end, you were still human. Not like Katerina became and I was made to be." She slowly shook her head.

"'Made'?" Kat asked, her face shocked.

"Yeah." The Reverend Mother grimaced. "You missed a lot and very little of it good. Yes. I was made. I don't know if I was cloned originally or rebuilt from a human 'volunteer'…." She made air quotes around that word. "...or whatever. There are no records that anyone can find. But one thing I _do_ know. I know I was made to be a weapon. The original Tenno did _not_ take kindly to the Orokin doing that."

"I bet not." Kat swallowed hard. "Orokin. I remember… some..." Her gaze was far away. "I woke up a few times and tried to run. I never got far before they grabbed me and put me back to sleep. Things didn't make a lot of sense to me. Golden buildings? Golden people?" Both clergywomen nodded. "Talia _managed_ it?" She asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, she did." The Reverend Mother sighed deeply. "It took her a long, long time, but she managed to build a golden society. And like any human built creation, it worked for a while. A long while indeed, but then it did what all human empires eventually do. It came apart at the seams. We call what happened the Collapse and what is left of humanity is still trying to recover."

"Oh." Kat shook her head. "Well, if you can't help me..."

"I didn't say that." The Reverend Mother interrupted her firmly enough that Kat jerked back. "I said I don't _know_ if I can. If we can. Maybe we can't. But we have to _try_."

"Why?" Kat asked, her tone soft.

"Because leaving you in an electronic limbo is what the _Orokin_ would have done." The leader of the Clergy said with a growl. "I am _not_ Orokin. I am not a self centered, egotistical piece of shit." Kat stared at her, wide eyed and the Reverend Mother slumped a bit. "Orokin destroyed itself but it was helped greatly by the fact that they tried to turn their new weapons, people like me, into slaves." At that, Kat recoiled and the Reverend Mother nodded. "That didn't work out so well for them."

"Ouch." Kat gulped. "I saw what happened when Tenno got pissed a few times. One time when I woke, they tried to undo the change and I was awake for a while. I saw what happened to Nyx, that scum Rasputin tried to enslave her. Did she…? I don't remember if she recovered." Her face was ashen now.

"She did." The Reverend Mother reassured the free shade. Then she grinned. "Recovered enough to have a kid."

"Oh." Kat made a face and both women looked at her. "That was why the people who captured me did what they did to me. They wanted me to be a mother. No matter my own wishes."

"Bastards." Katerina snapped, but subsided when the other clergywoman looked at her. "Sorry."

"Stop saying that." The Reverend Mother said mildly. "She does not _want_ pity."

"That doesn't change the fact that I _feel_ for my friend!" Katerina retorted. "Or must I shut off _all_ of my emotions?"

The Reverend Mother groaned. It was so heartfelt that Kat actually grinned at her. The gray shade relaxed completely but then she shook her head. Both others waited for her to speak.

"I feel uneasy." Kat said after a moment. "Like I need to run. But if I do, he is waiting." She couldn't keep the fear out of her voice.

"What happened to you altered your mind in a number of ways." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "You ceased to be the human woman known as Katherine Keras and became the being known as Kat. From what I was taught, you empathized with wolves, furred predators from Earth." Kat nodded. "No one ever said why. I barely know what a wolf was, just that they had fur, hunted and howled. They went extinct millennia before Orokin fell."

"I don't remember entirely." Kat admitted. "But it was a psychological thing. A way to become stronger. To fight better. To release the shackles of civilization and embrace the animal that lurked in my heart."

"Interesting." The Reverend Mother pursed her lips in though. "You think. You can plan. But deep down, in your heart, you think like an animal, not a woman." Kat nodded again. "And any animal wants to be free. Free to run and hunt or whatever." Kat looked at the floor. "We will not cage you." She promised.

"But..." Kat stammered. "I can't leave. If I do, he will take me back."

"No, you can't." The Reverend Mother said with a grim nod. "But this Convent is not the entirety of our colony." She reassured the other. "Tell me, do you have any problems dealing with others? With humans?"

"Not that I know of." Kat admitted. "The few times I interacted with humans while I was loose were limited. I had to flee."

"Well, now, you don't have to." The Reverend Mother reassured her. She made a face. "I need to get back. I need to-"

"You _need_ to _sleep!_ " Katerina said with a growl so fervent that Kat stared at her in shock. "You are not Tenno anymore! You must not push yourself so hard." She snapped at the Reverend Mother who would not meet her eyes. "And you know it. You know what the docs have told you. You are not energy and if that meat body dies, you do too."

Kat stared from one to the other, hope dawning, and the Reverend Mother nodded, her face grim.

"Thank you for spilling that secret, Katerina. I will work to find an appropriate punishment for you." The Reverend Mother said with a growl and Katerina looked suddenly worried. The Reverend Mother held up a hand when Kat opened her mouth. "I don't know if what was done for me would work for you. I was a special case and they had no idea if it would work. They were rushed and if _anything_ had gone wrong, I could have easily become a ravening monster, killing for its own sake and the need to assuage my bloodlust. I have seen far too many go that way, Kat. I give you my word, that if we can get it to work for you safely, we will. You have suffered enough."

"I know the feeling." Kat said weakly. Both woman stiffened and she nodded. "The wolf inside me wants to hunt, to kill, to feed. But I… I… _I_ don't _want to!_ " She stammered, undone.

"May I touch you?" The Reverend Mother asked. Kat stared at her and the Clergy leader smiled. "I have some tricks." Katerina scoffed at that and the Reverend Mother snarled humorously. "You hush."

Kat stared at her and then nodded slowly. The Reverend Mother reach out and took the gray shade's right hand in both of her own. Kat stared at it and then tears started falling.

"Only shades could touch me and… Most tried to be kind, but..." Kat said through her sobs.

"We will not bind you." The Reverend Mother promised as she pulled the crying shade into an embrace and held her as she sobbed. "Unless you prove yourself a danger to me or mine, I will not cast you out. We offered you sanctuary and we will abide by our oaths. You are a _literal_ lost soul and the Clergy are here to help lost souls. You can leave anytime, but you know what will happen if you do." She gave Kat a squeeze.

"The wolf wants to run." Kat said weakly. "I don't know if I can stop her."

"Is there one mind in your head or two?" The Reverend Mother asked. Kat stared at her, but she was totally serious. "It can be weird, I know. I had two distinct minds in my own head once." She made a face. "Small wonder people thought I was insane." Katerina looked like she had swallowed a bug as she fought to keep from laughing and the Reverend Mother's face turned stern. "Hush!"

"I didn't say a word!" Katerina said quickly. Kat snickered at the look on her face, fear mixed with amusement.

"Good, don't." The Reverend Mother said repressively, but the corners of her mouth were turning up. "Kat, you can stay here for as long as you wish. In that form, you don't use resources. You don't take up space. You don't need much at all. I am the only one who can hold you like this and my time is always short. But you have suffered. It wasn't anything that anyone apparently planned but..." She trailed off as Kat made a sad noise.

"Thank you." Kay said as she slowly reached up and hugged the Clergywoman back. "It has been so long. I forget what a kind touch felt like. Stasia..." She murmured. "I remember the name and a kind voice but no more. She is dead, isn't she?"

"Almost certainly." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "It has been a very long time. I don't know how long. Orokin had its own means of telling time. I could probably find out exactly how long it has been, but frankly? I don't have the guts. With everything else? I don't want to know. After the Collapse, I slept until I was needed again. Then I became the Reverend Mother and my life went totally crazy."

"I feel so alone." Kat said weakly.

"You are not alone!" Katerina said firmly. Why did Kat flinch from that? "Kat?"

"I don't know." Kat frowned, but her face was easing. "That phrase. Something in that phrase. Sad? Kind? Angry? Lonely? I… I don't know."

"Well, if we can help it, you will not _be_ alone." The Reverend Mother said firmly as she squeezed once more and released the shade. "Can you alter your form?" Kat looked at her and the Reverend Mother grinned. "That attire is not the current fashion."

"Reverend Mother!" Katerina protested, but paused as Kat smiled and her form shifted. Suddenly she was wearing a habit like the Reverend Mother's, if gray instead of blue and black.

"Sister Katerina has to stay here." The senior Clergywoman said firmly. "She is both stuck _and_ sick. _You_ don't have to." Katerina wilted and the Reverend Mother's smile turned vicious. "Oh, don't mope, Sister Katerina. You are going to be _busy_." The bound shade gulped and the mouthpiece of the Clergy nodded. "You were bored. You won't be now. Mural 31, the one in the ladies restroom, is in disrepair. You will bring it in here and fix it."

"We only have _30_ murals. And the restroom...?" Katerina broke off and hissed. "No! That _isn't_ a mural! It is _graffiti!_ _Pornographic graffiti!_ "

"It is history." The Reverend Mother smiled grimly as Katerina growled. "If we only preserve the good, if we only _remember_ the good, what does that make us?"

"Stupid." Kat said firmly. The Reverend Mother nodded to her. "I… Even if you cannot help me, thank you. I forgot what kindness was."

"Oh, I am being selfish too." The Reverend Mother said with a grin as she rose and started for the door, beckoning Kat to follow. Kat rose and looked a question as she followed the Elder clergywoman. "We have a couple of problem children in the orphanage at the moment and none of the proctors want to do what is needed to curb their excesses. They have a right to their feelings after their experiences, but they are acting out and they are disrupting everything. Would you mind scaring them a bit for me?" She asked. "We have tried gentle and they ignored it. I don't want to hurt them, and that is the way they are going. The _last_ thing we need here is a mob of bullies."

"Reverend Mother!" Katerina begged as the door opened. " _Please!_ "

"You _will_ refurbish that ancient 'art'." The Reverend Mother paused at the door but did not look back. Her tone was pure command. "You will put it back in better condition than it is. You will refurbish _all_ of the graffiti, protect them and put them all back where they were. The Convent will remain as it is." Katerina's mouth was hanging open and the Clergy leader shook her head. "Or do you want me to come up with something _nastier?_ "

" _No!_ " The bound shade said quickly that Kat had to snicker. Just like a sergeant, she bet the elder clergywoman had all kinds of nasty things for troublemakers to do. "I just… Kat… I hope to talk to you again."

"She is not stuck here." The Reverend Mother said with a shrug. "She can come and go as she wishes." Kat smiled at her and then nodded to Katerina.

"I will be back, my friend." Kat promised.

"I will be cleaning...filth." Katerina said sourly as the door closed.

"She spilled a secret, but _that?_ " Kat asked as the Reverend Mother started off. "That is vicious."

"She is bored and I really don't have a lot else for her to do." The Reverend Mother sighed. "I am working on that, but for now? It will take her awhile. There are thousands of years worth of graffiti in the corners of this place."

"Remind me never to get you mad at me." Kat shuddered dramatically as they approached what had to be an elevator. "So, what do you need me to do?"

"You were a soldier." The Reverend Mother said with a smile. "You dealt with sergeants, no?"

"A bit."

" _Angry_ sergeants?"

"Oh."

* * *

Thirty minutes later

The boy obviously didn't have any idea what was going on, but covered his fear with bravado.

"If you are going to hurt me, then hurt me!" The boy snapped as the Reverend Mother glared at him.

" _Hurt_ you?" To all appearances, the Reverend Mother seemed truly shocked at that. "Why, Conner Z-6? Why would I hurt you? If I hurt you, you go to the hospital. The doctors and nurses there take care of you while you laze around. No, I am not going to hurt you. You are going to clean up the mess you made." She could tell the moment that Kat showed herself behind her. The boy's eyes went huge. The gray shade had lots of skill in altering her form. She had shown the Reverend Mother a couple of things that had frankly scared the Clergywoman. "This is Sister Kat. She will be supervising your cleaning of the mess hall."

"What- Uh..." The boy stammered. Then again, seeing a woman in a Clergy habit with a wolf's head in place of her own was _terrifying_. Which was, of course, the whole _point_.

"Don't you dare make a mess in the Reverend Mother's office!" Kat's quiet voice was all growls. The Reverend Mother fought hard to keep her face stern. She so wanted to laugh at the arrogant bully's sudden terror. "You threw food on Alina G-90. It was caught by three cameras. Do not deny it." She snapped as the boy opened his mouth to protest. "You are one step away from being sent to re-education."

Neither of the woman wanted that. Conner Z-6 wasn't a bad kid. He had just been dealt a bad hand in life. Bad parents, bad friends. He had been scooped up by Corpus Social Services when he had tried to rob an automated teller machine and the Clergy had gotten involved when the mess that was his family had come to light. His skill with mechanical devices was impressive for a nine year old, but his attitude needed serious adjusting. Good thing Kat remembered a few sergeants.

"Let them." Conner Z-6 said with a grow of his own. "You know that is where I will end up."

"Do I?" Kat stepped forward, and the Reverend Mother felt a wash of fear that she suppressed. When she was trying? Kat was scary as hell. "And is that what you want? To forget who and what you are?"

"Yes!" Conner Z-6 said quickly and then blanched.

"You want the pain to go away." Kat said quietly and her head shifted back to look human. "You want the memories to fade. You want to be yourself, not what someone else wishes you to be." The boy nodded jerkily. "Wiping your mind won't help that boy."

It wouldn't actually. The emotions were deep seated and the chemicals that made up memory were hard coded into his bones. They could fix that, ease him into anew life. But it would take time. A mindwipe might not work and even if it did? He would have emotional problems for the rest of his life. If they could get through to him now? They could help him. If not? He was doomed to a sorry, sad life. At least he would never be like his mom. _That_ woman had been mindwiped for her crimes against her husband and son.

"What do you know?" The boy tried to bluster. A mistake. Kat's head shifted again, back to wolf.

"I know if you don't do _exactly_ what the Reverend Mother tells you _when_ she tells you...Well... " Kat growled again, low and dangerous. "I am _hungry_."

The boy stared at her and then he fainted.

"Too much?" Kat asked as her head shifted back to human. The Reverend Mother was at the boy's side, checking his vitals and his mind all at once. She smiled.

"No. Just enough to shock him out of his certainty without causing long term harm." The nun smiled wide. "Even if you don't stay, I _like_ your methods."

"You are weird."

"Well, duh."


	5. Chapter 5

**No one can hurt you like family  
**

"No."

The group of warframes would not have looked out of place in any Tenno gathering. Any group of warframes generally included Excalibur, Trinity and Mag designs. Admittedly, not every group of Tenno had access to the golden Prime forms that had been the origination of the later Orokin versions, but more and more of the clans that fought across the origin system boasted such things. They were slightly better than the Orokin copies. More durable for one thing and usually with better systems to allow the occupant to fight. Not always, there were clans that had changed so much in their non-prime versions that few of the Original First Tenno would recognize them. But an Excalibur warframe was an Excalibur warframe. A Mag warframe was a Mag warframe. A Trinity warframe was a Trinity warframe. Simple.

Not.

These were _not_ regular Tenno. Indeed, all five of the Tenno who stood in a group were transparent golden shades. All wore warframes, but… These were not normal Tenno. Trinity, Frost, Mag, Nyx, Excalibur. All of them had names, of course. But few used them. These were the First. Hayden Tenno's _first_ apprentices. Long dead but still partially present, they served as Tenno always had. But now? Things were different. Excalibur shook his head and strode from the group, his posture furious.

"Excalibur, wait..." Trinity didn't chase after her compatriot. She knew better. She just stood, partially slumped. He paused and looked at the first Cyberlancer and Healer of the Tenno. "We are not asking you to betray her. We are asking you to _help her!_ "

"You are asking me to lie to Kat." Excalibur said in a flat tone. Frost and Mag both winced. Nyx was a statue. "That is _your_ job, not mine." At that, all four of the others winced hard. "I will not be party to this."

"And if Hayden commands it?" Frost asked quietly.

"If Hayden commands what he did before, I am no longer bound as I was." Excalibur's tone was still cold. "I am no longer bound to guard the Orokin game. I am no longer sworn not to harm those who would harm me or mine. Those who hurt Banshee and drove her away." Pain sounded in his voice, but then it vanished. "I have no duty to any but my own heart now. My own Code, my own honor. And as for _you?_ Kat was my friend. She trusted me. I will not betray that trust no matter how _simple_ that may make your _plots_."

Cold, hard, merciless. A Galatine sword being drawn would have been _far_ less dangerous than Excalibur's cold rage.

"It is not a plot!" Trinity pleaded. "We want to help her!"

"Really?" Excalibur turned to look at Nyx who did not move. "Really?" He inquired again. Nyx slowly shook her head. "I didn't think so." He turned again, but paused again as Nyx finally spoke for the first time in this discussion.

"It is not what you think, brother." Nyx was sad. "We didn't plan this. None of us even thought about it until she woke up screaming. But she is-"

She stilled as Excalibur slid one hand to the other and his Exalted Blade erupted form his right hand. Everyone recoiled. For one of the First to draw a _weapon_ on another? Oh, he was _beyond_ angry!

"If you say it, I will kill you or die trying." Excalibur said in a very quiet voice. "I know what you and Trinity intended. I can guess what you _did_. Banshee figured it out right before I was attacked. She told me about what she found out about Kat when I spoke with her last. Hayden may or may not know. I bet Nikis knows but he will never betray his oaths. Until you _say_ it, I can pretend I don't know what you did to Kat. Once you _do_ say it, sister or no, we will become enemies and one of us will _die_." Again, cold, hard, matter of fact.

" _Excalibur!_ " All four of the others exclaimed in horror.

"You had no right." Excalibur said slowly. " _None_ of you had any right to do that. To cage her and hurt her for so long? To do _that_ to her? What are you, _Orokin?_ " That was angry.

"Put it away." A new voice sounded and everyone stilled as a golden Volt warframe appeared nearby. His posture was resigned, but everyone stilled. The First Volt had been a berserker. He had routinely lost control in battle, becoming a danger to friend and foe alike. Excalibur looked at him and Volt shook his head. "Excalibur, don't. Not here. Not now. Whatever they want now, whatever they did _then_ , let _Hayden_ judge." Excalibur didn't move, didn't banish his sword. Volt sighed. "Excalibur, don't be a fool. You cannot fight all of them. Nor do you _want_ to even as angry as you are right now. Much as I dislike you on occasion for being a stick in the mud, you are better than this."

For a long, long moment, Excalibur just looked at his brother Tenno. Then he slid his hands back together and the energy blade vanished. No one moved and then Volt moved to stand by Excalibur. When he looked at the other four, his posture was resigned.

"You didn't tell Saryn. She just got done checking Kat's records and guess what she found?" Volt's tone was conversational, but both Nyx and Trinity jerked a little. "She is angry. Almost as angry as I am. I liked Kat too. But this… No. What you did will piss off at _least_ half of our kin. Probably _more_." He sighed deeply. "Excalibur, go. They will press you to try influencing Katerina and you will react badly. You saved me from killing kin once, I owed you for that. Time for me to return the favor. Go."

A half-spherical shield composed of pure energy sprang into place between the four frozen warframes and Excalibur who nodded to Volt and started off again.

"The debt is paid." Excalibur said formally as he strode away. In between one step and another, the holographic warframe vanished.

"Almost." Volt said with a growl as he looked at the others who stood like deer in headlights. "Ash, Saryn, Nova and Ember will be here in a few moments. They are _angry_." He held up a hand as Trinity started to move. "You run and they-we - _will_ chase you. As he said, you had no _right_. We are taking you to see Master Hayden and if you even _try_ to flee, we _will_ hurt you. All of you."

"She wasn't going to get any better, Volt!" Trinity protested. "Not without drastic measures!" Mag, Nyx and Frost just stood, resigned.

" _That wasn't for you to decide._ " Volt said savagely and then gave himself a shake. "No, I will not lose it here. I will not. For the first time in an incredibly long time, I am _sick_ to be called your brother. You had _no right_."

"We didn't hurt her. We did-" Mag started, but Volt threw his hand forward and she screamed as electrical energy struck her at the speed of light. Before any of the four could even react to the attack, four _more_ warframes surrounded Volt and all had energy flaring around their hands, aimed at Mag, Trinity, Nyx and Frost. As bad news as those four were? Ash, Nova, Ember and Saryn were _worse!_

When she spoke, the First Saryn's voice was cold and hard.

"Liar."

* * *

A dojo

"Warlord Tiana?" The voice was familiar and the form that shimmered into being in front of the kneeling warlord was familiar. One of the First. Excalibur. He bowed to her as she rose.

"Greetings, Excalibur." Tiana said with a nod. "To what do I owe a visit from the First?"

"I find myself conflicted." The First Excalibur's tone was odd. She had never heard that tone form a First. Shame? Sorrow? Anger? All of these and more. Many in her clan had used that tone. Hell, Tiana _herself_ had. But a _First?_ "Your clan understand honor and know how to keep a secret. I believe I have discovered a secret so terrible that it may destroy the Tenno."

"What?" At that, Tiana went still. Her clan housed a lot of secrets. She didn't really want any more. "Why not go to Rachel? She can keep a secret too."

Rachel led the remnants of the First in the Citadel. The corporeal remnants. The Tenno who had walled themselves off from the universe after a massive betrayal that had cost them several of their number at the beginning of the war with the Sentients. She was very old, very powerful, very scary and very, very devoted to the Tenno as a whole.

"Because what I fear we will have to do will not be something that Rachel can contemplate." Excalibur said softly as he knelt. "I..." He bowed his head. "I don't know if _I_ can do it."

At that, Tiana just stood, staring at the shade. For one of the _First_ to say that… She slowly shook her head.

"This has to do with Kat." Tiana said flatly. Excalibur nodded. "Nikis is chasing her. He will catch her."

"He almost did. She sought sanctuary with Katerina and the Corpus Clergy." Excalibur said quietly and Tiana gasped. "They won't hurt her. But while she is there, Nikis can't touch her. Religion is not normally a big thing to us, but in this case? It is. Nikis could fry any human in that area to take her back, but with her claiming sanctuary with them, he would have to kill them _all_. Men, women, children, the new Reverend Mother, he would have to kill every one of them to take her. He won't do that unless he is given no choice in the matter. Kat isn't dangerous. She never _was_ to anyone who wasn't an enemy. She just wanted to be free." The last was sad and plaintive.

"I can understand _that._ " Tiana groaned as she knelt in front of the shade. "Hawk woke her."

"Hawk didn't know what she was doing." Excalibur reassured her. "I found the girl there, trying to soothe Kat back to sleep. I tried the same, but the wolf inside Kat takes offense very easily and she fled." He had a smile in his voice now. "Kid didn't resist. She didn't quibble or moan or make excuses. She knew what she did was wrong and wanted to make it right. Hell of a Tenno, that angry girl."

"Yeah, she is." Tiana smiled as well. Said smile faded. "So what is wrong? Is Kat the problem?"

"Yes and no." Excalibur said slowly. "What do you know of Zephyr? The First?"

"Zephyr?" Tiana frowned and thought hard for a moment. Then she shook her head. "Nothing. I don't remember being taught anything about the First Zephyr."

"I would be amazed and more than a bit worried if you had." Excalibur was quiet, reflective. "Most of the records have been sealed and the second person to use that warframe design is usually called that. Zephyr was not stable from the very beginning. Then, one day, she simply disappeared. No one ever found her. Not even Nikis could find her. Not that she was his problem. She is alive, not dead."

"What?" Tiana felt faint. "A lost Tenno? An unstable one?"

"Zephyr never really fit in with us." Excalibur said slowly. "We never knew why. She was kind in her own way, but hard. Cruel on occasion, but never malicious as odd as that seems. She always had a reason for everything she did. Only now does it start to make sense to me and I _so_ wish it didn't." He said plaintively.

"Why?" Tiana asked and then hissed. "If she is _unstable_..."

"I don't want to kill her." Excalibur said weakly. "Rachel wouldn't be _able_ to. Physically or emotionally. Especially if what I fear is true. I don't know all of the facts, but what I do know turns my stomach. They had no right to do what they did. She wanted an end, not that."

"Kat." Tiana said softly. "What? What are you saying?"

"What I am saying, warlord Tiana..." Excalibur said softly. "...is that Zephyr and Kat are linked in a very strange way. We knew they were. Every time Kat wakes up, Zephyr is sighted somewhere in the system. She never kills anyone who doesn't attack her, but what she _does_ when thwarted is horrific and leaves scars that are slow to fade. She had fought Tenno in the past who have tried to stop her. To the death on at least two occasions to keep from being taken prisoner. She returns each time. She is true Tenno."

"Insane." Tiana breathed. "An _insane_ Tenno in a fully _functional_ warframe."

"By our standards, yes." Excalibur agreed. "But she has a Code of her own. She has _never_ harmed a child. She has placed herself in jeopardy more than once to shield children from harm. I saw that once. She caught a falling child instead of fleeing from those who were trying to trap her. She saved the child, set him down carefully and then died fighting the trap. I could not help her. She will _not_ harm a child. I don't want your clan to _kill_ her. I want you to try and _talk_ to her. If what I dread is true… Then Kat and Zephyr are linked mind to mind. Banshee found out some things just before I was attacked in the database and she was infected saving me. We talked for some time the last time we could and she told me what she found. I miss Banshee, Katerina." The last was sorrowful.

"She misses you." Tiana reassured him. "I talked to her a little. She is a mess, but her faith is a great help to her now."

" _That_ I did not expect." Excalibur chuckled a bit sourly. "Then again, Banshee always _did_ have a mind of her own." He sighed again. "We _cannot_ kill Zephyr. In her warframe, she is immortal. But more than that? She is not an enemy. She is neutral, not an enemy. She only fights when attacked. If Kat _does_ find the end that she so desires, I fear what it will do to Zephyr."

"Wait..." Tiana stiffened as horrified realization struck. " _Why_ is a human linked mind to mind with a Tenno in a warframe?"

"I don't know for _sure_." Excalibur slumped.

"But after what Katerina told me she found? I am willing to bet it is something that Nyx, Trinity, Frost and Mag did to save their comrade _despite_ her wishes."

* * *

Earth

The world was different. The very air tasted different. Cleaner. Purer. No aftertaste of industry. No stench of humanity at all. She rose from her nest and strode to the cave entrance, looking out across snow covered mountains. This area had always been remote and had been kept pristine during Orokin. Not for any altruistic reason, because of fear. The Baltic states had been mostly left alone because of what had happened in Lasria in 2008. Even when the rest of the Earth had been covered in Orokin structures, _this_ land had been left to run wild. It was worth any human's life to enter the area that had been Infested first. That made for an incredible range of hiding places that she had used to sleep. Apparently this time for a long, long time. She stretched, slowly arching every muscle, very pinion.

Everything was as it should be. But the call came again. The cry of an animal in distress. The same call that had woken her so many times.

 _Wolf is awake. She is alone and frightened! To the hunt!_

She threw herself into the sky, her cry of elation at the joy of flight as unchanged now as it had been the very first time she had done it.

The world was different. Her enhanced vision saw no signs of human habitation _anywhere_. There were odd things here and here that she couldn't identify and…

Wham.

Something hit her and she tumbled for a moment, rage sparking as she recovered. She hissed as a bulbous flying thing arched into her vision. A device on its bottom was throwing tracer fire at her. She snorted in amusement as it tried to track her fast flight and failed miserably, nearly falling out of the sky as it stalled. Her own aerobatics were more than sufficient to put her behind it and… Was that a _human_ flying this weird thing? No. Not a human. A quick grab and the misshapen thing screamed as it writhed in her claws. The flying machine fell, but she ignored it. The form was human, but the face through the domed helmet? Ugh.

The thing gibbered at her and flailed weakly as she set down and threw it away. It landed badly, screamed once and then lay still. She felt soiled touching the monstrosity. She wouldn't even _eat_ that horror.

 _Zephyr._ A cold voice sounded from nowhere and she went still as a red armored form shimmered into being nearby. The red and black warframe seemed unsure as he rose form a kneeling posture. She hissed at him. _Do not fear me, sister. I am not your enemy._

He was Tenno! Not to be trusted! Her head spun one way and then the other, but her vision never left the being and the huge sword on his back. He held out a hand to her and she spat at it. As she did, something grabbed her from behind and darkness shrouded her vision. If she had been an old earth bird of prey, she would have been in trouble. She wasn't. She was _Zephyr_.

Instead of being hobbled by the lack of sight, she was _enraged_. She threw herself straight up into the air, power flaring again and again as whoever or whatever had grabbed her from behind hung on for dear life.

 _ZEPHYR NO!_ The other cried as Zephyr flew away, twisting this way and that to lose her assailant. A full speed barrel roll loosened the grip and then a quick turn had something fall away screaming. Her vision returned and she saw a red and black armored form falling. From this height even a warframe would break when it hit the rocks below. The Tenno within would heal, in time. Not her problem. She shrieked at the falling form and then at the distant red one that stared at her from the ground. Enemies. Both of them! They had tried to trap her! If she saw them again, she would fight. For now? She had to find her Wolf! She turned to fly away.

She was Zephyr. She would be no one's slave. No human, no Orokin, no Tenno, no _nothing_ would hold her! She _would_ find her wolf! She _would!_

 _East._ A voice in her head. That wasn't a mind that Zephyr knew. It wasn't hostile or scared. It was female and sad. So sad. She spun in the sky, but there was no one there. Joy. Someone _else_ in her mind! _What you seek lies to the east, fierce Zephyr. I am not your enemy. Wolf is not there, but you can find her from there._

 _Ess! What are you_ **doing**? Another female voice, far more powerful.

 _Righting an ancient wrong._

Zephyr shut them both out of her mind, focusing on nothing but the rush of unassisted flight. As always, the wind tore all thought from her mind as she struggled to master herself and ride it. No one would be able to follow her. After a few minutes swooping in and out of cloud banks to make sure she wasn't followed, she turned east. She really had no other clues to follow. This was probably a trap, but she would search. It was what she did. She knew Wolf was awake, but until she got a lot closer, she wouldn't be able to sense her best friend.

Her mother.

 _I come, my Kat!_ Zephyr promised.

 _I come!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Response to renleech - kudos for getting the reference. LadyHawke was a great movie for 1985. I think Ballas might be considered a bishop. Is he evil? Not sure. He certainly isn't anything that anyone would call 'good'.**

* * *

 **Mothers**

"What?"

The word was quiet, stunned and the being who had been speaking nodded to the Empress of the feeble remnants of Orokin.

"We do not know exactly what happened." Excalibur stood as he had since he had appeared "Or, _I_ do not know exactly what happened." He corrected himself grimly. "I saw Zephyr in person once after she left the Citadel and was stunned by the sight. I was delivering a message and was on my way back to my transport when it happened. A little boy had managed somehow to pass the security fields of a tall building and gotten outside near the roof. He fell. I saw a golden blur catch him, bring him to the ground and set him there." His transparent form shuddered in memory. "Then she tried to fly away and an energy net constricted around her. You know of such nets." He questioned as Eliza winced.

"The harder you fight, the tighter they get." Eliza agreed, her face shuttered.

"Did that happen to you?" Michelle asked. Eliza's daughter looked calm, but the Princess wasn't. No one who was present was calm. For this, Eliza had commanded a small group and Michelle, Tiana, Excalibur and Heron of the Lotus' kids were present. No guards were present. Not that any were needed here in the middle of Avalon, the super secret hideaway of the Orokin emperors. That hadn't made any of the guards _happy_ , mind you but Eliza had put her foot down when Excalibur and Tiana had arrived.

"I know Cathi had no choice." Eliza shuddered hard. "Yes. She used a net twice. I kept fighting the second time and she stunned me to keep me from hurting myself. No one stunned Zephyr?"

"It happened so fast, I don't think anyone had the chance." Excalibur said weakly. "One moment, she was in the net, the next she was on the ground. In pieces." He gave a tiny sob. "There was nothing I could do but gather her remnants up. They would have just left them there to rot next to the crying boy. The Orokin didn't want _parts_. They wanted _her_. She refused to let them have her."

"For whatever they are worth, you have my condolences for the death of your sister due to actions of my ancestors." Eliza was thoughtful, worried. "Was the boy a trap for her?"

"I don't know." Excalibur admitted. "Maybe. Is it germane?" He inquired.

"It might be." Eliza said slowly. "If someone has used a child to try and trap her, then such will likely never work again."

"I saw reports later." Excalibur shook his head. "She rescued children every time she appeared. Some she left in place, others vanished. No one knew their fates."

"Would she have hurt them?" Heron asked. Excalibur did not speak and Heron shook his holographic head. "I am sorry, but others will ask."

"I am not angry, Heron." Excalibur reassured the being who looked like a boy and wasn't. "I honestly do not know. This is technically a Tenno matter, but since it has spilled out across the Clergy and..." He bowed his head. "...and since I cannot _trust_ my kin now, I came to you." He nodded to Eliza.

"That was sort of supposed to be the job of an Empress. Fixing what others cannot. But I have known Tenno. All of your kin could _not_ have been involved in such, Excalibur." Eliza said quietly. "By all accounts, Hayden was pragmatism personified while he was alive. Sneakiness made in human form. But I know for a _fact_ that he had limits. _Has_ limits even as a shade. If some of your kin _made_ Zephyr from this Kat person?" She shook her head. "Oh, he _won't_ be happy."

"No, he won't." Excalibur agreed. "I was overruled. The few of us who wanted to let Kat pass were outvoted. Everyone else wanted to try and help her. I can understand that, but that wasn't what _she_ wanted."

"Such conundrums have baffled medical personnel since the dawn of human history. To heal or not." Eliza said with a frown as she looked at something no one else could see. "I am doing a data search for 'Zephyr' and I am seeing a lot about warframes. The earliest..." She broke off and groaned. " _Oh no_."

'Mother?" Michelle asked when Eliza actually put a _hand_ to her _face_. "Do we want to know?"

"Likely not." Eliza heaved a great sigh. She looked at Excalibur and slowly shook her head. "The boy that fell was in the rebuilding area around Cairo." That was not a question and everyone stared at her. "It _was_ a trap. There was a sizable bounty placed on, quote 'a giant golden bird' unquote. Alive only. Before anyone asks; yes. A Prince Robert signed the bounty notice so _again_ , my _own_ ancestors caused a _massive_ mess. They killed her trying to take her for the bounty. I bet that wasn't the only time."

"On a _Tenno?_ " Tiana, Michelle and Heron all chorused, outrage pouring from them.

"I am not surprised." Eliza slumped in her seat. " _Angry_ , but not surprised. Not at all. There are pictures attached and she is _gorgeous._ High caste Orokin always _did_ like pretty things. Silly things like angering Tenno mattered not at all when they might have the prettiest _toys._ " The last was sour.

"She was glorious." Excalibur said sadly. "I only saw her in flight for a moment and there are no words that do her justice."

"Well..." Eliza actually smiled. It was small and more than a bit grim, but it was a smile. " _I_ won't do that. I like my health." She blew out a deep breath. "So, what is it you wish of me and mine, Excalibur?"

"I don't know." Excalibur allowed. "For the moment, Kat is safe. The Reverend Mother may play her own game, but she too was Tenno. She understands what Kat is going through. Kat is not entirely sane after what was done to her, but she is not a danger to anyone but herself as long as no one tries to hurt her. Zephyr is the unknown and while she will never trust Tenno again, there are many other threats in this system now. The Corpus, the Grineer, Infested… She won't know any of them but the Infested."

"What did Tenno do to her?" Tiana asked softly.

"We held her. She was powerful and obeyed Hayden, but no one else. When Hayden fell, she refused to take direction from any of us. She often left for long periods of time. I know that Mag brought Zephyr back twice when she left." Excalibur had a frown in his voice. "I doubt Mag was gentle."

"The words 'gentle' and 'First Mag' do not go together, no." Eliza snorted. "So, she won't trust Tenno but you want to try contact anyway?"

"With Kat awake, I think we need to. There is more going on here that we do not know. I saw Kat meet Zephyr once. Kat was awake and restrained while they tried several new things to 'help' her. I was there with Banshee. We were trying to cheer Kat up, keep her calm. We managed, but it was hard. Zephyr came in. It didn't make any sense." Excalibur said softly. "Zephyr didn't know what to do. That was clear from her posture. Kat was _terrified_ of her."

"Terrified?" Everyone chorused.

"No other word does it justice." The ancient Tenno shade said sadly. "No one knew why or would _say_ why. Zephyr retreated in confusion, left Kat to go back to sleep. She sought Kat again, but by then Kat was gone back into her prison. Then, when Hayden didn't come back the last time, the warframe vanished right out of the Citadel and never came back. Twice my kin tried to _take_ her back and she fought to the death each time to keep from going back."

"Why would she do that?" Tiana asked, confused. "Why would _Tenno_ try to take her back by _force?_ "

"Obviously she prefers freedom and as for our kin? Lack of knowledge. By then, most of us who had personally known Kat and Zephyr were gone into the database." Excalibur replied. "They didn't know who Zephyr _was_. To them, she was a sister who was acting oddly. Hurt. She needed help and when they tried to help her, she fought. So they fought back. She wasn't armed and they were. _Neither_ of them expected her to fight so hard. They didn't _want_ to kill her and both of the ones involved were hurt very badly both physically and emotionally. The brother went into penance for a hundred years for killing her. The sister? She renounced her warrior vows and became a Supervisor of the quarantine. What was commonly called a 'Caretaker of the Unclean'. No one blamed Song in the _slightest_."

"So Tenno cannot make contact." Eliza shook her head. "And any of _my_ people who try… Hell, _we_ did the same or worse knowing my esteemed relatives." She shook her head. "Will she talk to anyone or is she feral?"

"She _can_ speak. She wasn't a big talker when she first came to the Citadel." Excalibur paused and then snarled. "When Trinity, Mag, Nyx and Frost _brought_ her to the Citadel." He corrected himself. "They _said_ they found her in a lab. They never said _whose_ lab and we all assumed it was another super soldier experiment." He shrugged. "There were a _lot_ of those in those days."

"And you think the others _made_ Zephyr." Eliza liked this idea about as much as every else did. Not at all.

"I do." Excalibur said firmly. "How? Why? I don't know. But I _do_ think they made her from Kat somehow. Every time Kat wakes, Zephyr is sighted. It is only a matter of time. She is my sister and we wronged her. I can't help her. I hoped you could."

"Orokin hurt her too." Eliza said quietly. "She won't trust anyone in gold."

"Would she talk to me?" Heron asked and everyone looked at him. "I mean, I am not like most Tenno. I cannot be physically there thus she cannot hurt me. I could hurt her though if I am not careful." He looked thoughtful.

"Heron, you don't know she cannot hurt you. You _can_ be hurt. Hawk _was_ hurt by the Queens although she will never admit it." Tiana warned. "Your mother would flay us all if anything happens to you."

"And rightly so. Tenno or no, you are still her kids." Eliza said when Heron opened his mouth. "Your offer is appreciated, Tenno Heron, but in this? No. We cannot just jump into this situation. We need more information. We need more minds focused on this. We need Rachel in on this, maybe the Caretakers too. A lost Tenno, a human _hurt_ by Tenno? I have my disagreements with Rachel, but this? No. I know what she will say."

"We have another complication." Tiana said into the silence that fell. "I told my clan what Excalibur told me." She took a deep breath. "Brianna did not take the news well of a human and a Tenno hurt by people they trusted."

"Medic Brianna?" Eliza mused. "Oh. That."

Brianna had done horrific things to two Tenno once. One was dead and gone. The other was still alive, but would never fully recover from what she had done to him while enslaved. She was a kind, gentle soul and she would never forgive herself for what she had done.

"Yes, that." Tiana gave herself a shake. "Right now, I have her confined, because she demanded to go to the Clergy. To help Kat. She _can't_. We all know that. Maybe she can help _Zephyr?"_

"Maybe." Excalibur shook his head. "She is human. Zephyr has never killed humans that I know of who didn't attack her. But some _did_ vanish in her presence and no one knew what happened to them. They just disappeared. There were all kinds of grisly stories, but warframes don't need nourishment so I highly doubt she _ate_ them."

"Okay, our path is clearer then. We need to talk to Zephyr." Eliza said with a groan. "And that means I need to grovel before Rachel."

"Don't." Excalibur replied evenly enough that Eliza stared at him. "She understands. She is a leader, just like you are. She had to learn on the job, just like you did. She does understand. She doesn't like you, or trust you, but she _does_ understand. Be yourself. You will protect your people just as she does, but you think more like a Tenno than an Orokin, so she does admire you for that. Don't repeat that please." He asked. Everyone shook their heads. No one wanted Rachel angry. The Saryn was _scary_ when she got angry.

"She _does?_ " Eliza perked up a little. "I thought I was an embarrassment. A human child playing at being Tenno."

"A hurt, abused, _brainwashed_ child seeking _any_ source of strength in a world gone _mad_." Excalibur said sternly enough that Eliza stiffened. "You have no idea how proud you made us all, Eliza, when you recovered. When you pushed past your pain and fear to become a strong and capable woman. We don't _care_ if you human. When you told Sun that you would not go back even after your mother was imprisoned and forgotten. we heard. When you spoke of justice, freedom and truth, we listened. _All of us._ And now? To forgive Cathi Gata what she did?"

"It wasn't her _fault!_ " Eliza sprang up from her chair, her face furious. Excalibur just stood and she slowly relaxed. "I… It still hurts." She said weakly.

"You had to _throw yourself_ into a _riptide current_ to escape your torment!" Excalibur snapped. "You didn't know or _care_ if you were going to live! Of _course_ it hurts!" _He bowed to her_. "Your strength honors us all. Humbles us all. We Tenno who aided you and the ancestors who you wished to honor; Tenno and Orokin alike. What Orokin became is _not your fault._ " Excalibur said firmly. "I know Sun and many others told you that. You may bear some responsibility because of the crown you inherited, but it is not your fault."

"I know that." Eliza said quietly. "But it still hurts. My mother was evil. Utterly, totally, _irredeemably_ evil. And part of me _still_ loves her." She snarled and slapped herself on the arm! Hard! "I know better and I still do!" She hit herself again! Heron stared at Tiana in shock and the Warlord shook her head. They couldn't interfere. Luckily, they didn't have to.

"Mother." Michelle was at Eliza's side in an instant, holding Eliza as the Empress started to cry. "You are alive. I am alive. Gali is alive. The evil one is _not_. That is a _win_ , mother. She didn't win. _You_ did."

" _Empress!_ " _Jesse_ appeared in the middle of the room, the clap of the teleport heralding the Cyberlancer's arrival. She ran to Eliza and hugged the sobbing Empress tight as Michelle did the same. She was damn powerful and scary at how fast she learned stuff.

"A teleport? _Jesse!_ Tell me you didn't just set off _all_ the security systems." Eliza said through her tears just as the door slammed open and _four_ Royal Guard ran in, weapons ready. Others crowded the hall behind them, also with weapons ready. Alarms could be heard blaring. The four newcomers came to a sudden halt as they saw the Empress crying and her daughters holding her. Eliza groaned. "Ah, _Jesse_..."

"My mother needed me." Jesse hugged Eliza tight. "I will accept whatever punishment you decree, but my adopted mother needed me." She growled at the guards. "She _needed_ me. I will accept punishment, but for now? She needs _us_ , not _you_. Go." That was pure command and Eliza smiled as she nodded agreement. Jesse was growing up.

The guards saluted Eliza, turned and left the room. All but one. Guard Commander Petra took up station at the door as it hissed closed, the alarm fading moments before hat as someone cut it off. Her Galatine sword was in hand, but the point was to the floor. She stood ready, but she visibly relaxed a bit.

"Silly girl. I need to come up with something suitably nasty for you to do." Eliza hugged her daughters gratefully. "Even with all of our medical tech, I cannot be rid of this… These horrible memories. Not entirely."

"No, you can't. But you haven't been using all of your resources. You need to have at least one session with Sisters Jenni and Harriet. Maybe more than one." Jesse said firmly. Eliza jerked but Jesse was firm. "They _understand_ about secrets, Empress. They can and _will_ help. Harriet in particular has helped me. You know I am better." She was. Eliza had been surprised and pleased with how well Jesse was coping now.

"You went through hell." Eliza said weakly.

"So did _you!_ " Most of the _room_ chorused. Even Heron nodded, his face stern.

"I..." Eliza heaved a sigh as her tears slowed and stopped. "You are right. I need to coordinate with the Clergy anyway. We will need a lot more in on this. And yes, my wayward and scary powerful daughter _will_ be involved somehow, I am sure." She tweaked Jesse's nose. "Were you listening?"

"No, Empress. You said private. I know better than to eavesdrop on you." Jesse said firmly. "I was focused on the datastreams. How the Lotus managed all that at once boggles the mind. I know she isn't human, but sheesh! I felt your pain and fear so I came. We are linked."

"We are, lightly." Eliza hugged her daughters again. "Don't scare the guards, Jesse." She said with a growl as she stepped back. "And where is-? Ah..." The door opened behind Petra and a shadowed form ran in. He came to a sudden stop as well on seeing the tableau. "Draco, Jesse is fine. Just being _herself_." The Empress reassured the bodyguard sourly.

"Ric and Cecelia are coming." Draco warned. "They were visiting Jac and they were _not_ happy when the alarms went off any more than _I_ was."

"Tell me the kids didn't wake!" Michelle pleaded.

"Uh..." Draco made a shrug like motion. "They did. They are not happy. I think Jac could use some help."

"Right." Michelle's glower was just as powerful as her mother's as she turned it on the errant Cyberlancer. "Jesse. You caused this. _You_ get to come help me tend the kids and probably change them too."

"Uh..." Jesse swallowed, but Eliza gave her a shove towards Michelle. Not a gentle one either. "Oh, god, not diapers!"

"You _will_ use code, but you _will_ set it to convey _smells_." Eliza commanded. "You get to change any soiled diapers that are reported. I bet there are _many_ on this station right now."

"Shoot me?" Jesse begged as Michelle took her by the arm and let her shuddering sister from the room. Draco followed.

Eliza sighed and shook her head as Petra followed the pair of princesses but two more warframes entered the room and took up station by the door.

"I will talk to the Clergywomen. We will need to coordinate with the Reverend Mother anyway." Eliza promised but then she turned to Excalibur and Tiana. "Warlord Tiana? Tenno Excalibur? We need Rachel and the Caretakers in on this. Tell her from me: 'Orokin stands ready to assist however we can'."

Both Tenno bowed from the neck to the Empress of Orokin. Heron did as well. Tiana spoke.

"That is our next stop."


	7. Chapter 7

**First**

"I do not know anything about what you are talking about."

That was not a normal thing for Rachel to say. The leader of the remnants of the First Tenno had access to more information about more things than just about anyone else in existence. Whereas almost every single human database had failed catastrophically during the Collapse of Orokin, minus the archives at Avalon, the Tenno had never lost any of the data they had collected. Admittedly, they hadn't collected any between the time they had cut themselves off from Orokin and fairly recently, but they had never _lost_ anything. Now, as to whether or not they could _find_ things in their incredibly huge archives? That was another story. But Saryn Prime clad Tenno rarely lacked _some kind_ of information about a subject. This? She obviously hadn't had a _clue_ before Tiana had sprung the Zephyr problem on her.

Rachel stood in a disused Citadel room with Tiana and Excalibur. The shade had appeared when Tiana had asked for privacy and been led to this room. Rachel hadn't even flinched at that. Then again, she was of the First, so she had more dealing with shades and such than anyone outside of the Guardians of the Dead.

"I doubt they left records lying around, Sister." Excalibur said heavily when Tiana looked at him. "The whole episode with Kat did not cover our kin with glory."

"Kat." Rachel mused. "Katherine Keras. Yes. The Kat Wolf as Nikis told the story." She shook her head. "No, not the Tenno's finest hour. He left a message saying she had woken up and he was pursuing her. She went _where?_ "

"She went to Banshee." Excalibur said quietly. Rachel stared at him and he nodded. "Yes, there."

"And _how_ did she know to go there?" Rachel asked, intent. "Banshee's fate is not common knowledge."

"We don't know." Tiana shook her head. "The fact that she managed to find what is likely the _only_ place in this entire solar system where Nikis could not simply barge in and grab her is troubling. But… Excalibur says she is not a threat."

"She wasn't." Rachel blew out a breath, more to gain thinking time than to exhale since warframes didn't actually do that. "I did look up a bit when Nikis called, but the records are sparse to say the least. The only time Kat ever hurt anyone was when they hurt her first. It happened a couple of times while she was fleeing. It was never pretty, but she never instigated it and if she is staying with the Clergy now… The Reverend Mother wouldn't put her in that position, would she?"

"Highly unlikely." Excalibur reassured her. "She um… She told Nikis to get out after Kat claimed Sanctuary. All but _threw_ him out according Katerina." Rachel was obviously goggling at him now and he snorted. "I would have paid good money to see that."

"Me too, but, maybe from a _safe distance_. Like a kilometer or two." Rachel snickered agreement. Then she sobered. "Nikis is an asshole, but he usually means well and he _does_ know his duty. Kat is dead." Excalibur looked away and she slumped a bit. "Brother, I am sorry, but that is the truth."

"And the Tenno refuse to let her pass on." Excalibur said with a growl of annoyance. He glared at her and she would not meet this faceplate with hers. "Sister, you _cannot_ think this right."

"Excalibur, what I _think_ is immaterial." Rachel said sadly. "She was _in_ the database. She _fled_ from it. Nikis is well within his rights to fulfill his duty. I have no right to interfere, no authority over that domain. None. How or why she wound up there initially, she _was_ there. And this Hawk girl woke her up?" She asked Tiana.

"Yes. Everyone agrees that Hawk didn't know what she was doing." Tiana said with a growl of annoyance. "Once she realized what she had done, she apparently tried to get Kat to go back to sleep." Excalibur nodded and Tiana continued. "But no. Nikis was not pleased."

"After the mess with Jesse, small wonder." Rachel shuddered in memory and the others shared it. That had not been fun for anyone. Admittedly, the Grineer had paid the most, having a bit of one of the super secret and secure bases _nuked_ had to hurt. But Jesse had died as a result of that mess. She had come back as Tenno _and_ as Cyberlancer, but it had been a close thing. _Far_ too close for comfort. Rachel gave herself a shake. "So… Zephyr will be around now too." She looked at Excalibur and then at Tiana. "Why come to me?"

"Because there is more going on here than we know." Excalibur said quietly. "Zephyr and Kat are linked somehow. The one time I saw them together, Kat was scared to death of Zephyr. It wasn't normal human fear of Tenno in warframes, Rachel." He cautioned when Rachel made a noise of confusion. "It was far, far worse. She was _terrified_ , but they had never _met_ before that I know of."

"The woman who became Kat worked with you." Rachel mused and Excalibur nodded. She heaved a sigh. "Okay. I can see that Zephyr is our problem. She is a sister. A lost, hurting sister."

"And one with no reason to trust Tenno." Excalibur had a scowl in his voice. "Zintas and Song didn't want to kill her, but she wouldn't stop fighting. They tried to disable her and she just kept fighting until she couldn't anymore. They tried to save her and couldn't. Add to that… _Mag_ brought her back twice when she left without authorization." At that, Rachel winced hard.

"Joy." The leader of the corporeal First said sourly. "Mag's methods would not have endeared us to her."

"Not even close." Excalibur agreed. "And then..." He visibly steeled himself. "Mag, Frost, Nyx and Trinity cornered me and all but demanded that I pressure Katerina to get the Clergy to stop protecting Kat."

"They...what?" Rachel wasn't faking that shock. Not a chance. "Why? Why you?"

"You won't know this." Excalibur said quietly. "After Kat's transformation, Banshee and I were the only ones who wanted to let her pass. We stayed with her, we tried to keep her calm. Kept her trust. It was hard."

"She died." Rachel said weakly.

"No, she _didn't_." Excalibur growled and Rachel went still. "She had been with us for years, flying, fighting, carrying us where we needed to go. No one had planned on transport besides portals, and those were hard to manipulate at first. She and Nyx's aunt Irina figured alternate forms of clandestine transportation out. It helped us a lot in those early days."

"The records say she died." Rachel said slowly.

"Eventually, yes. She did." Excalibur could have been carved from stone now. "No thanks to _us_."

"Excalibur..." Rachel obviously did not know what to say. "What happened?"

"She got old." Excalibur snarled, but not at Rachel. "Humans do that. She was slowing down. She was in her ninth decade when it became noticeable. When it started affecting her piloting. She had been enhanced by a madman, turned into a super soldier. It wasn't Technocyte based, so no one thought she could become like us. Then she got sick and even with Trinity, Ember, Nova and Saryn working like crazy, she wasn't getting better. We all knew she was dying. She accepted it. Mag set up a neural control suite for her vehicles, so she could keep flying us to our missions even from a bed and Katherine appreciated that. She lived to fly. Then one day, she woke up and when she tried to get up out of bed, she stepped right out of her body. She did _not_ take that well."

"Oh." Rachel sounded sick and who could blame her?

"Everyone _liked_ Katherine." Excalibur sounded little better. "She could be a hard ass, dangerous, or just damn scary, but she was nice most of the time to everyone but enemies. That morning, Banshee was walking by her quarters when it happened and heard her scream. She ran in to find Katherine staring down at herself, her form composed of gray energy. Banshee sat with her, kept her calm, just tried to be there for her." He heaved a sigh. "It took us a week to figure out what had happened. A _month_ to try and put her back. She was ready, Rachel. She was ready to die and the others wouldn't let her."

"What happened?" Tiana repeated Rachel's question. "That kind of thing isn't normal."

"Very _little_ about us was normal in those days." Excalibur chuckled, but it held no mirth. "What happened was that the neural interface Mag came up with to let Katherine keep flying reacted with her enhanced brain chemistry to jump start the change to energy form. No one had any idea it was going to happen. Trinity blamed herself, but Katherine didn't blame any of us once we had investigated. Once we had an explanation that she could understand. She blamed the madman who had rebuilt her, not us. For _that_ anyway."

"And then?" Rachel pressed.

"And then Trinity put her back into her body. Tried to fuse Katherine's energy into her body, make her fully human again." Excalibur said flatly. "She lay down into her body the woman we knew and when she slid out of it again, she wasn't that woman anymore. The woman Katherine Keras died when Trinity flipped the switch and the energy form being we know as Kat was born. They are not the same woman." He slumped. "They resuscitated Katherine's body and refused to let it die. They refused when Kat begged, _pleaded_ for release. For death. They confined her when she tried to flee and then we discovered that she wasn't the being we had known. She was more animal in her mind than human. She thought like a wolf. Banshee did not take what happened well. I didn't either. Kat wasn't -isn't- a bad person. She was just..." He trailed off.

"Trapped." Tiana said in a very quiet voice. Excalibur nodded.

"She refused to take oaths. I never blamed her. Banshee never blamed her. _Hayden_ never blamed her. Most of the others?" He made a soft noise of despair. "Some understood. Others didn't. But, Kat… We couldn't let her out into the world. We explained the threats and she understood those. We were trying to protect her from so many who would have _used_ an energy form being for their own ends. She understood that. But the rest? The experiments, the tests, the attempted healings, _all_ of it without her consent! Banshee and I were pretty much her only friends and we could do nothing but watch as they hurt her over and over again trying to 'help' her. Hayden had to _order_ us not to interfere. He did. We… We obeyed. Heaven help us, we obeyed. All we could do was try to be kind to her. Be there for her after each time in Trinity's care. She appreciated that, called us members of her pack. The rest? All she _ever_ got from _them_ was pain. Katerina and I will never abandon Kat. Never abandon our pack mate." That was cold and hard.

"Shit." Rachel slowly shook her head. "And then, her body died."

"Even in stasis, everyone knew it wouldn't last without a motive force." Excalibur was calm again. "She couldn't stay in it. The things that Trinity, Mag and the others did to her didn't help. She couldn't stay in, couldn't make it work even when she lay down in it. They kept trying no matter how much it hurt her."

"Trinity was trying to help?" Tiana asked. "I have talked with her a few times. She didn't seem the kind to torture with no reason. Mag, yes. Trinity, no."

"I don't know." Excalibur said savagely. "She blamed herself for what happened. I know that. She was trying to bring Katherine back and there _is_ no coming back from such a fate. Katherine _died_. Kat is all that is left and _she_ wants to _die_. They refuse to let her. Yes, Kat is energy form so yes, she regenerates and _no_ , she never swore to Hayden, so she is _not_ Tenno, but _there! ARE!_ _ **LIMITS!**_ " He was all but sobbing as he screamed that.

Rachel was staring at the floor, her head shaking back and forth. Tiana looked from one to the other in horror.

"We killed her." Excalibur was fighting for calm and managed it partially. "We killed a human we called friend. A human we called 'Comrade', 'Sister'." He was heaving in grief. "And what was her reward for her service to the Tenno? Pain. Eternal pain. Eternal _slavery!_ " At that, both Tiana and Rachel recoiled. "The others can call it whatever the hell they want, but that is what it was. Is. She had no family left. No rights. No appeal. No chance for anything different. She was little better than _property_." He shook his head. "Small wonder she runs every time she wakes. _I_ would too."

"Nikis said she wasn't sane." Rachel said softly. "That she thinks she is an animal from Old Earth, a wolf."

"Yes." Excalibur shook himself hard enough that the code that made up his form shimmered for a moment. "She had belonged to a group that had focused on wolves. Predators. They knew they were human, but they sublimed their humanity to do a fairly horrible job. Special Operations are never clean. After Trinity tried to seal Katherine back into her body, the wolf that lurked in the woman's soul became dominant. She is not evil. She is a hunter, a predator. She understands human rules so she won't hunt or kill those who do not attempt to harm her or her pack. Any who _do_ will be slain without mercy."

"Damn." Rachel swallowed hard. "And… Zephyr?"

"During the mess with Nyx and Rasputin, after we recovered her and while we were trying to ease her back into our crazy lives, Mag, Trinity and Frost took her on a mission." Excalibur's tone was clipped now. "They came back with Zephyr. She um… She wouldn't talk to any of us. Just Hayden. She knelt before him and said the vows, but she only ever listened to _him_." The ancient shade shook his head yet again. "When he passed into the database, she left. But before that, at one point while Chroma was being taught our ways, Trinity tried something new with Kat. She got Hayden to command me and Banshee to help. We were angry."

"Hard to blame you." Tiana said in a very quiet voice. Rachel looked at her and slowly nodded.

"Trinity wasn't very coherent about Chroma." Rachel made a noise of worry. "So..."

"So, she found something else to do." Excalibur growled. "I was ambivalent. Banshee was irate. Kat was so tired of hurting. She didn't even try to run!" He slumped a bit. "Not that she could have, but still… She didn't _try_. She had given up. Then Zephyr walked in and I swear, I thought Kat was going to stroke out in the energy cage she was stuck in. Energy form or no, she was _terrified_. Banshee and I worked to calm her and Zephyr left when we asked her to. Wait." He paused. " _I_ asked her to and she _did_. But she only listened to _Hayden_." He sounded confused.

"She is no animal." Tiana said firmly. "She knew she was scaring Kat and didn't want that." The other two looked at her and she shrugged. "It is the only conclusion that makes sense."

"Very little about this entire _situation_ makes sense, Tiana." Rachel groused. "So, you think Kat and Zephyr..."

"What I _think_ is that Mag, Trinity and Frost, maybe with Nyx's help, maybe not, _made_ Zephyr from Katherine's body." Excalibur said coldly and Rachel actually backed up a step. "Probably in another attempt to 'help' Kat."

"Brother..." Rachel's voice was very small. "Do you know what you are _saying?_ " Such a breach of the Tenno Code by the _First_ would have incredible effects on Tenno society. Most bad.

"Yes." Excalibur snapped. "But don't worry. Kat wasn't _human_ so any abuse done to her doesn't count against the Code, now _does_ it?" He asked snidely. "The only thing that _might_ count is if they desecrated her corpse. But then again, she was only human, wasn't she? Who cares if she was our friend?"

"I..." Rachel slowly shook her head. "Excalibur… Do you have proof?"

"No, and there is not likely to be any knowing those four." Excalibur slumped, his rage spent. "They were all very good at what they did."

"But they were not stupid either." A new voice sounded and all three Tenno went still as Hayden appeared nearby. He had been _crying!_ "I do not want to drop this on you, Sister Rachel but I have no choice."

"I am Leader." Rachel said with a gulp. "They did, didn't they?"

"They did. Trinity left records in a sealed portion of her archives." Hayden gave a series of file header names and Rachel pulled up a holo, scanning through it quickly. "Nyx wasn't coherent but they needed her power to keep the newborn pups calm."

" _Newborn_ _pups_ _?_ " All three of the others chorused in horror.

"Cloning didn't work." Hayden said weakly. "I… I liked Katherine too, but I agreed that she had a right to seek an end after all the horror that had been done to her. Whens he got sick, I kept Trinity from going nuts on her. Then she changed and I..." He bowed his head. "I never asked what they did to her. I didn't believe you or Banshee, Excalibur when you told me what they were doing to her and for that, you have my heartfelt apology. I didn't think Trinity of all people could do such and I was wrong."

"If not cloning, then what?" Tiana asked carefully.

"What came first, Tenno Tiana?" Hayden asked sourly. "The chicken or the egg?" Rachel snorted, but focused on her search.

"What?" Tiana demanded, confused by all this.

"It is an old philosophical debate." Hayden shook himself. "Old Earth chickens laid eggs, so how did the first chicken appear if not from an egg?"

"But if it was the _first_ chicken, then how did it lay an egg?" Excalibur replied and Hayden nodded to him, his face severe.

"What did they do?" Tiana begged. "Tell me they didn't violate her!" Hayden shook his head quickly and she relaxed, but that vanished at his next words.

"What they did was worse in many ways." Hayden said quietly. "Slavery. Kat isn't sane by our standards, but small wonder she runs. I owe Banshee an apology too."

"Zephyr will be looking for Kat now." Excalibur said after a moment when he was sure Hayden wasn't going to speak again. Even dead, one did not interrupt the First Tenno unless one liked pain."

"Zephyr was Katherine's call-sign." Hayden said slowly. Excalibur stiffened and then nodded. "They intended them to be a unit."

"Why would _Trinity_ of all people do such horror?" Tiana pleaded. "She is a kind soul."

"A kind soul was trying to bring our friend back to life and stepped _way_ over the line doing it." Hayden looked at Rachel as the Saryn snarled. She glared at him and when she spoke, the fires of hell sang in her voice.

"That file is code locked." Rachel said very slowly. "By _you._ " At that, Excalibur and Tiana both went still. Hayden didn't react. "They did this at _your order!_ "

"The username is Haur and the password is Ladyhawke." Hayden said quietly. "And yes, I surrender to your judgement, Rachel, leader of the First, for crimes against a human."

"I wanted my friend back."


	8. Chapter 8

**Lies**

"You… wanted..."

Excalibur's voice was soft, disbelieving. He slowly reached his left hand for his right, but before he could activate his most powerful weapon, Rachel had stepped between him and Hayden.

"That is very interesting." Rachel said in a tone that was decidedly odd considering the circumstances. Here was Excalibur about to draw his Exalted Blade on Hayden Tenno, the First Tenno and Rachel was _amused?_ "A fine story. Now will you tell us the truth?" She inquired, her tone hardening.

At her words, everyone looked at her. She didn't move, didn't draw a weapon. Indeed, she stood as if resigned. Tiana didn't dare breathe as the two shades glared at each other.

"What do you mean?" Hayden asked, not taking his eyes off Excalibur who mirrored him.

"Well, it is odd." Rachel sounded downright unconcerned that these two powerful beings were about tear into each other. "You see, before Tiana arrived, I had no idea these files even existed. Because they _didn't._ " _That_ wasn't amused. Excalibur stiffened as Hayden slowly retreated a step. Rachel slowly shook her head. "You can tell whoever has hacked our systems to stop adding to them now."

At that, Excalibur recoiled a step, his hands falling to his sides. Tiana stared from him to Hayden, to Rachel and back, confusion rising.

"Hacking?" Tiana inquired carefully. She knew she was utterly outclassed by all three of these beings, Nyx Prime warframe or no. If they wanted her dead and gone? She was. Not a pleasant feeling for a Tenno.

"Yeah." Rachel's hands didn't move. Indeed, she didn't seem to be worried at all as she braced Hayden Tenno of all people. If this _was_ Hayden Tenno. "You see, I spoke a lot to Jesse while she was here. I was curious about a lot of things to do with Cyberlancers. I had met Olim of course, but _Trinity_ trained Jesse and even Olim says that the girl is damn good despite her youth. When she gains more experience, she may well be unstoppable. So, when _she_ told me that she had found backdoors into all of our networks, I was _more_ than a bit perturbed. Even more so when I queried Trinity and _she_ confirmed that those hadn't existed before the Collapse. Before the Orokin nanobot attack that cost us Master Richard. So, we have these files. They were not here when I did a fast data search on Zephyr and Kat just after Tiana arrived asking to speak with me. But here they are now. So, either they were _hidden_ beyond the sight of two of the best Cyberlancers in existence as well as the First Cvberlancer, or..." Her gaze never left Hayden. "They were added during our conversation." The other did not speak and Rachel shook her head. "Nothing to say?"

"I think he will talk to me." Everyone went still as _another_ Hayden Tenno appeared nearby. This one held a Glaive in hand and he was clearly _pissed_. He waved his free hand and the other shimmered before turning into an amorphous mass of gray energy. "Damn." Hayden sounded sad now. "I hoped I was wrong."

"Hayden?" Excalibur said softly, not moving, his hand millimeters from drawing his energy blade.

"Trinity and the others messed up, Excalibur." Hayden said sadly. "They messed up _bad_. They _did_ make Zephyr from Katherine. What they got was not what they expected. They didn't know what they were doing, but… That doesn't excuse it. You are so very right, Excalibur. What was done to Kat was horrific and in then end? Futile."

A scream of animal rage came form the gray energy.

 _YOU WILL NOT HOLD THE MOTHER!_ The voice sounded in Tiana's head and it was a howl of pure animalistic rage. Not quite like a drahk but close. Was that a wolf?

"Be silent!" Hayden snapped and the howl faded. "Where are they? The ones you took?"

 _The Mother is ours!_ The other retorted. _You will not hold the Mother!_

"You could not hold Zephyr." Hayden snapped. "She refused your commands. She told me and I swore her to silence. You will not harm Kat _or_ Zephyr ever again! We will not let you. Our friend may be gone, but her offspring remain."

 _You will not-_ The howl cut off with a scream as Hayden clenched his hand and the gray mass of energy compacted into a ball.

"What is going on?" Excalibur demanded. "And how do I know _you_ are really Hayden?" Hayden smirked at him and then started to sing!

 _'What do you do with a drunken sailor?_

 _What do you do with a drunken sailor?_

 _What do you do with a drunken sailor?_

 _Early in the morning!'_

He didn't continue the ancient and horrible human drinking song past the first verse. He smiled as both Excalibur and Rachel started laughing.

"Jesse!" Rachel managed between her laughs. "Oh, that _crazy_ _girl!_ "

"She didn't like leaving you vulnerable, Rachel." Hayden was serious now. "She understood the reasoning and all, but she _really_ didn't like leaving the holes in your security. She told _me_ the passcodes. No one else has them or _will_."

"Better holes we know about and can watch than ones we have no clue exist." Rachel replied, turning to Excalibur who was shaking his head. "Brother..."

"They made Zephyr?" Excalibur asked slowly. "Trinity, Frost, Mag, and Nyx?"

"They did." Hayden slumped a bit. "You remember those days. Everything was chaos. Talia was trying so hard and so many were resisting for so many reasons. What happened to Katherine was a horror and they _did_ want their friend back. What no one took into account was that Katherine wasn't entirely human anymore. She wasn't _infected_..." He broke off as Excalibur groaned.

"She was _enhanced_." The slightly younger shades said weakly. Hayden nodded.

"Yes. I didn't know all of what they were doing to Kat, Excalibur. Not until Saryn brought me the records a few hours ago." Hayden said slowly. "I think part of me didn't _want_ to know. But yes. They made Zephyr from Katherine. They hoped that a warframe would allow Kat to heal back into the woman they knew and liked. It was quite a shock when they made the warframe and it had a motive force in it as soon as they _made_ it."

"Zephyr." Excalibur said weakly.

"Zephyr." Hayden agreed. "I didn't understand. Zephyr was very confused. She remembered things, but they made no sense to her. The others tried to help her, but Zephyr wasn't hurt or sick."

"She wasn't human or Tenno." Tiana inhaled sharply. Hayden nodded. "And Kat?"

"Kat is our fault." Hayden said quietly. He turned to the gray mass of energy that was seething in its ball. "As is this."

"What is that?" Tiana inquired carefully. "Or is that a secret?"

"I don't know what they are." Hayden replied. "They defy explanation. They are energy forms, but not anything we can define. Not human, not Tenno, not Orokin, not Sentient. What I _do_ know is that they came from Katherine. They, like Zephyr, consider Katherine their mother."

"Their _mother?_ " Excalibur, Rachel and Tiana all chorused.

"I didn't understand when Zephyr came to me, after Trinity asked her help. When Zephyr scared Kat so badly." Hayden said sadly. "She came to me all but crying. She begged me to help her mother and I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. We sat down and talked for several hours. That was when I found out what Trinity and the others had done. That they had _made_ her. I was…" He made a face. "...fairly irate at being lied to." He shook his head. " _Zephyr_ calmed me down. She begged my help, she begged me to help her mother. I couldn't. No one could."

"So..." Excalibur wasn't sure about this at all.

"You and Banshee helped her. It took a very long time even by our standards." Hayden still didn't take his eyes off the gray mass of energy. "I can tell you this with absolute sincerity. Trinity and the others never _wanted_ to hurt Kat." Excalibur stared at him and Hayden nodded. "I was angry when Saryn told me what she had found. What they had done to Kat. I knew it had failed but I never asked what they did. Today, I did. I interrogated Nyx. She didn't resist. She was… She wasn't all _there_ when they did that. She was fresh from meshing her mind with Chroma's and you know she hadn't taken time to recover after her ordeals with Rasputin. She was coherent, but not much more when Trinity, Mag and Frost made Zephyr with her help. She knew it was wrong, but not _why_. Even now, her memories of that time are blurry, indistinct. Small wonder she tried to forget everything until Chroma's love for her pulled her back to us."

"Is Nyx all right?" Excalibur's voice was hushed, scared. Hayden nodded.

"I am not in her class with mind powers, but I was gentle." The patriarch of the Tenno clan looked away even as he reassured his brother. "I am angry, but not with her. The others _knew_ that what they planned was wrong and they did it _anyway_. They are all in custody. Rachel will have to come up with an appropriate punishment." Rachel nodded soberly. "But for now? We have a bigger problem."

"Energy forms." Rachel was eyeing the gray sphere. "Hostile?"

"That is another odd thing." Hayden replied. "No. They are not, generally. Are you?" He asked the gray ball.

 _Do with this form what you will, but do not hurt the mother!_ The other was begging now.

"Why would we?" Hayden asked when everyone else looked at him. "We have hurt her _enough_." He said sternly. "You impersonated me. I don't appreciate that but I am not cruel simply to _be_ cruel." His Glaive vanished and Excalibur relaxed completely. "Why did you come here? Why impersonate me?"

 _The mother is awake._ The mother said weakly. _She is in fear and pain. He will come for her._

"What?" Rachel demanded. "Kat is in pain? Who is hurting her?"

 _He is hurting her!_ The other begged. _Don't let him hurt our mother, please!_

" _Who?_ " All four Tenno present demanded.

 _We cannot say._ The energy form said weakly. _We cannot. Hurt us if you wish for the trespass, but we cannot say._

"Wait." Excalibur raised a hand when Hayden would have done something. He made a soft howl that sounded oddly comforting. The gray ball shivered and everyone went still as it screamed.

 _No!_ The other was not in pain. it was scared. For _Excalibur?_ _No! Do not! He will harm_ **you** _as well,_ _pack brother_ _! He will-_

The ball vanished with a pop and a small howl of pain. Everyone stared at Hayden who looked shocked.

"I didn't do that." The First Tenno said slowly. "It didn't escape. Someone _else_ yanked it from my grip."

"Probably this enigmatic 'he', it was speaking of." Rachel said soberly. "So… We have someone who can hack us clandestinely enough that our own internal security can't see it. Wonderful." She sighed and hit her com. "Kollette? Gets Isha and Roger. Plug the holes in our computers. _Now_."

"We cannot guarantee they will _stay_ closed, Rachel." Kollette sounded worried and who could blame her? "Not without a Cyberlancer."

"I can ask Olim to stop by." Tiana said when Rachel looked at her. "Quais is busy. Jesse..." She shook her head. "Jesse is going to be busy too." She said dryly. Rachel tilted her head in query and Tiana shook her head again. "You don't want to know."

"You _don't!_ " Excalibur interjected. "That girl, sheesh."

"Oh, knowing Jesse, I can _guess_. Good thing her heart is in the right place or we would have _serious_ problems." Rachel agreed. She sighed. "First One..." She said to Hayden.

"This is both our fault _and_ our responsibility, Rachel." Hayden said with a nod. "This wrong has stained us all for far too long. Zephyr is not an enemy but she _cannot_ trust us. She is not Tenno, she never _was_. And then, what we did to Kat. I didn't know. She never said. Just that her mother was hurting. She told me she would leave and I couldn't _blame_ her. That she stayed as long as she did was a testament to her love for her mother. She wanted to be there for Kat if Kat woke again, to try and talk to her. But every time Zephyr came close, Kat was so afraid. Zephyr could not speak to her and it hurt Zephyr badly. She left."

"Why was Kat afraid?" Tiana asked. Everyone looked at her and the clan leader continued. "Did she ever say? Did _Zephyr_ ever say?" Hayden shook his head and looked at Excalibur whose posture was thoughtful.

"Zephyr didn't understand why Kat was so afraid." Hayden slumped a bit. "It hurt her. Seeing her mother like that. Excalibur?"

"I only knew of the one time, but I was busy. Banshee asked Kat several times why Zephyr scared her so much. Most of the time, she wouldn't respond at all." The younger shade said finally. "When she finally did, she told Banshee and I quote..." He spoke from distant memory. "… 'I don't know. She just scares me'. Which makes _no_ sense since Zephyr was never hostile to her."

"No, it doesn't and that bothers me. If Kat is hurting or in danger, we need to know. She is our responsibility." Hayden wasn't happy. Not at all. "Excalibur, I know you have been chafing since the database got shut down. Since our duty essentially vanished. It is not safe for you to be around Katerina. You know this." Excalibur nodded. "That said, we need more eyes and minds on this. We need more protection around Kat. The Reverend Mother and Clergy will try, but they won't be able to stop someone who can hack the _Citadel_. Hell, _we_ may not be able to, but we have to try. For Kat. For Zephyr."

"Hayden, I..." Excalibur froze as Hayden laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You have had a very hard road, Brother. Losing Banshee the way we did hurt you worse than any other and you buried yourself in your work as a result." The First Tenno was sad, so very sad. "Our lives, and deaths, have been nothing but pain, grief and loss. We are not samurai of ancient Japan or ninja as others called us. We are _Tenno_. Our duty defined us for so long, but… now?" Hayden looked at Rachel who was nodding slowly. "Rachel?"

"If you give your leave, and Excalibur gives his, and _if_ the Reverend Mother agrees, I _can_ order Excalibur to detached duty working with the Clergy even as a shade. That is a grey area and a bit flimsy when talking about a shade, but I think it is valid." She had a smile in her voice now. Hayden nodded. "For 'the duration of the emergency' of course." Hayden smiled at that but stiffened again as Rachel speared him with a finger. " _You_ get to explain it to Nikis, Hayden." Tiana was hardly the only one to wince at that. The Grandmaster of the Dead would _not_ be happy.

"Thanks, Sister." Hayden complained sourly. "You are all heart."

"Hey, I am delegating." Rachel's hidden smile was a smirk as he made an obscene gesture in her direction. "Oh? Insubordination, now is it?"

"Don't start, girl." Hayden sighed. "Yeah, I will talk to him. Better warn everyone to stay away. It is going to get loud."

"Ya _think?_ " Everyone was snickering as Hayden groaned.

Everything stopped as an alarm blared. Tiana was at Rachel's heels as the Leader of the First ran from the room. The shades kept pace, but did not speak.

"Where?" Rachel demanded.

"The plains!" Jasmina's scared voice sounded the from the intercom. "Elenia is there!"

"What is Caretaker Elenia doing at the-" Rachel came to a sudden halt and she hissed even as Tiana and the others did the same. "She _didn't!_ "

"Rachel, it is our duty." Jasmina said sadly. "She is trying to talk to them. Trying to get through. It is not going well."

"We are going to need to work on our communication." Rachel was obviously forcing herself to be calm as she started off again and Tiana followed. "I don't have a problem with you Caretakers doing what you do even as icky as it gets, but please: _Tell me!_ You have _backup_ now, Jasmina! You are not alone! We will scramble, but… We may not be in time."

" _You_ may not be. _We_ can be." Tiana offered. Rachel looked at her and the warlord nodded. "Two of _mine_ are on the Plains with a potential recruit. Say the word. _Command us, First!_ "

" _GO!_ "

* * *

Plains of Eidolon

Three archwings swooped over the plains outside the Ostron settlement. The Grineer never learned. It was sort of part and parcel to what they were. The clones shot at the fast moving things and didn't hit any of them. The flying Tenno ignored them. They had a mission.

"There!" Will called as he turned his Amesha archwing to a new heading.

Ahead of them green magnetic energy bubbled around the awfulness that was the Infestation. The meteor that had once crashed near Cetus had released Infested bioforms all across the plains. The Tenno had responded of course and, using a biotoxin of Grineer manufacture, had scoured the plains of Infestation. Unfortunately, as every Tenno knew, Infestation could never be stopped. Certainly not with something as crude as a biotoxin engineered by clones of limited intelligence. The boil had grown back, just as nasty as ever and Infested had poured forth anew, threatening the Ostrons again. Tenno had responded. _More_ than Tenno.

"Orders?" Stephen asked as he looked for a place to land his Odonata. There wasn't really any decent spot near where Caretaker Elenia fought a horde of Infested. Other Infested fought beside her. One of those was massive. A Hemocyte? She was on _top_ of the boil and any normal Tenno touching that would die, warframe or no. This was supposed to be a training mission. He had been interested in the clan and had passed the interview so, they were seeing what he could do. No one had planned on _this_.

"Get their attention!" Will replied. "Pull them away from her!"

"Roger that." Rica's Itzal Archwing didn't come to a hover, but she didn't really need pinpoint accuracy. Not with her preferred Secura Penta. Five grenades belched out of the enhanced Corpus grenade launcher in rapid succession and their payloads spread devastation across the rear ranks of the Infested menacing Elenia. She did like her explosives. All of the infested spun to see the three Tenno in the sky and various bio weapons started throwing stuff their way. She had a grin in her voice as the three archwings looped and spun to avoid the horror. "Mission accomplished."

"Tenno, fall back!" Elenia's voice was weak. She was hurt! "I got through. I got-" She gasped and fell, the huge Infested move into shield her.

 _SAVE HER!_ What had to be the voice of the Hemocyte came as it picked up the fallen Caretaker on the flat of its massive biotech scythe and _threw her off the boil!_

" _No!"_ Elenia screamed as the humongous Infested was buried under a wave of smaller forms. She rolled as she hit, but when she tried to rise, she fell to lie still. She didn't seem physically hurt. Poisoned? The boil was nasty stuff. _No…_ Her mind voice was weak. _I got through! I can do it again! Let me… Let me talk to them..._

All three other Tenno flew and as one, dropped to to land beside the stricken Caretaker, weapons ready. Will held his Skana, Rica her Glaive Prime and Stephen his Gram. They stood over their fallen sister, ready to fight or flee.

 _You cannot do what cannot be done, Mind of Light._ _There_ _is too much feral_ _here_ _._ The Hemocyte's voice was fading. _Thank you for trying. We do love your songs. But this? No. Remember-_ The voice faded as pieces of Hemocyte flew. The remainder of it fell and did not rise.

" _NO!_ " Elenia screamed again even as the Infested horde spun and charged.

The three hale Tenno met them halfway.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hurts**

(At almost the same time, in a hidden dojo far across the solar system)

"Janna, I am fine." Brianna sighed as Janna held out the now full plate to her. "I am just not hungry."

"Medic Brianna, you are _not_ fine." Janna countered. "Your emotions are all over the place. You need to eat and rest. You know it."

Briana didn't try to get up from the table this time. Janna was perfectly capable of holding her down or _sitting on her_ if needed. The Tenno was young, very young, but she was tough and even outside of her warframe, her training gave her far more strength than any human girl could boast. The one time Brianna had tried to get up, Janna had held her down for a full two minutes while Brianna had struggled and shouted at her. The girl hadn't responded at all until Brianna had wound down and only then had she offered the irate medic the cooked meal. The _hand cooked meal_ that Janna had made specially for _her_.

"I am not going to _break_ , girl!" Brianna snapped and immediately regretted it as Janna went still. Janna had _been_ broken, more than once. She had bounced back and was doing very well, but Brianna didn't like seeing the bruised look in her eyes. Less that she had _caused_ it. "I… No… I didn't mean that." The medic slumped. "I am sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Janna replied, setting the plate in front of the medic. "You didn't do this to me, any of it. You have helped me and Iriana a great deal. I have nothing but gratitude for you. You are stressed and mom is gone, so I want to help if I can." She growled. "Not like I can do much _else_."

Janna was very vulnerable. A brand new Tenno and a bread new Warrior Tenno at that. She was training hard and learning everything she could at a pace that frankly worried many of the medical staff, but she was up to it. She had broken the clan's rules once and had paid for that. Everyone agreed that her reasons had been valid, but she _had_ broken the rules and scared lot of people when she had left the dojo just after being turned into Tenno.

"Aren't we a pair of messes, huh Janna?" Brianna sighed, but then picked up her utensils and started cutting bits off the mass of food. Why was it so familiar?

"I needed to talk to you anyway. I dreamed last night, Brianna." Janna said quietly. Briana froze, her morsel halfway to her mouth. "It wasn't bad. There was no threat. No fear. No horror. But it wasn't anything I knew. So it wasn't my subconscious." Briana looked at her and then slowly chewed. No surprise, the food was good. Brianna focused on eating, letting Janna choose her words. "I woke from meditation chilled but my vitals never fluctuated. So, I don't know."

"That is why we talk, Janna." Brianna reassured the girl. "When strange or bad things happen,..." She chuckled a bit sourly. "...which they do an awful lot around us, we deal with them by talking about them. We may not be able to talk to anyone else, but we can talk to each other."

"Which is why I am here." Janna smiled as she sat across from the medic. "It was strange." Brianna nodded as she took another bite. She smiled and Janna's smile widened. "You like?"

"It tastes like something I remember from my childhood." Brianna said slowly, savoring the taste. It wasn't quite meat, or vegetable or… She stilled as the second bite went down. She knew what this was. This wasn't a Tenno dish! This was an _Orokin_ dish! One of Brianna's favorites from where she had been raised. "Janna? Do know what this is?"

"Um… An Orokin meat dish with vegetables and starches mixed in. The name translates to something like 'Ghoulish Goulash'?" Janna inquired, her face worried as Brianna paled. "Brianna?"

"What was it _called_ _in Old Orokin_?" Brianna demanded, every muscle tensing. She didn't what was going on, but if Janna was feeding her a childhood favorite? No one knew her favorite childhood foods! No one!

"I learned it on Avalon!" Janna said weakly. "I cannot _pronounce_ it. Brianna? What is wrong?"

"This was my favorite food as a child. All the way up until… Until the War..." Brianna said weakly. She was stunned when Janna started to cry. "Janna?"

"What have I _done?_ " Janna begged, holding out a hand to Brianna who took it. "I was trying to help!"

"You have." Brianna took another bite even as she gave Janna's hand a squeeze. "I have some good memories of that time. Before." Before the Sentients had come. Before Will and Kori had come to fight them. Before her boss had been taken with the idea of controlling the Tenno warriors who had been so gravely injured saving the staff of that isolated research facility. Before Brianna had hurt both of them so badly. Before Will had escaped and her boss had gone completely mad. "Don't cry, Janna. It is all right. All of the bad that happened, I will go on. It is all we can do, human or Tenno alike. But it is… This is good." She reassured the girl, giving Janna's hand another squeeze.

"It was hard to make." Janna smiled a bit wryly as she dashed her tears away. "At least I didn't make the mess I did before." She mock shuddered and Brianna had to smile as she took another bite.

"Yeah, and you brought back good memories, so I am in your debt, Tenno." Brianna focused on eating. "The dream bothered you? Why?"

"I don't know." Janna admitted. "Like I said, it wasn't anything bad. There was no fear. No darkness. Golden and red, but no dark-" She broke off with a jerk and pulled the plate away from Brianna who stared at her. "Spit that out!" She commanded.

"Why?" Brianna asked even as she did, nasty as it was. Tenno generally didn't ask for such things lightly.

"I just saw something red in the dish." Janna said with a growl. "I didn't put anything _red_ in-" She gasped and went still. No, not still, frozen in place as someone clapped lightly from behind Brianna. Brianna knew that sound and every single fiber of her being recoiled in fear. With hate.

"Good eyes, that Tenno child has. What a great Dax guard she would make." The voice was the same too. The hated voice. "Have no fear, Brianna Enginus. You will not be harmed. Neither will she. I have no wish to anger Tenno. My kin learned that lesson the hard way far too many times for me not to take it to heart."

"That is not my name." Brianna said with a growl of her own. She didn't move. She wasn't stupid. She had _zero_ chance against what had to be right behind her. Although how the hell he was _here_ was a very good question. This was a _Tenno dojo!_ Even high caste Orokin stepped carefully in such places or avoided them entirely if they had any sense at _all!_ Add to that, he hadn't survived the Collapse. Had he?

"Not now, no. It will be again." The other sounded sad now. "You gave it up. Your heritage, your past, everything. Why?"

Daring greatly, Brianna reacted out to touch Janna's still wrist. The pulse that fluttered under her fingers reassured her a little. She ignored the question as she checked the rest of Janna's vitals that she could reach without moving from her seat.

"I haven't hurt her, Brianna Enginus." The other said in a bit of a huff. "I wouldn't lie about that. I like my health."

"That is not my name." Brianna said firmly as she slowly spun in her seat and yes, it was him. "And you lie about _everything_ , Prince Robert, or should I call you by your _real_ name? Councilman Lorinos." The Orokin that stood there was the same tall, golden skinned form of what had been humanity's overlords for time immemorial. Same dark hair. Same golden eyes. They had always liked that genotype. He looked at her and she shook her head. "You no longer own my soul, my loyalty _or_ my obedience. Begone from this place or feel my wrath."

She slowly rose to her feet, balancing careful as she had learned from the Tenno here. Even now, she wasn't entirely trusted, but the Tenno martial arts were good exercise. She still had no chance, but she would never submit to him willingly again. Ever.

"Brianna Enginus, I am here to take you home." The Orokin said gently. "I am sorry for what happened-"

" _You sold me to Daniel!_ " Brianna all but screamed that. "Yes, he paid a hefty fee for a top flight biologist and mental specialist, but you _sold_ me to him for _money_. He told me how much he spent on me regularly. Do you _know_ what he did? What he made _me_ do? Do you have any _idea_ what that madman did? To me? To so many others? To poor _Kori?_ " Long forgotten rage was slowly overwhelming her fear.

"Yes. I know." He looked sorrowful, but he lied as easily as he breathed. Once, he had proclaimed love for her and then he had sold her soul and service in the next breath. She could not trust anything the Orokin said. "If you had eaten the meal, you would have felt tired, gone to sleep in your quarters and woken at home. The kuva in the dish would have let you sleep through any unpleasantness. Now? I need to improvise."

"You did something to Janna." Brianna shook her head. "You lousy piece of Orokin _shit_. Some things never change. Using _children_." She snorted. "Although _Tenno_ children are likely a bit more dangerous than your usual tools. When her _mom_ finds out... I bet you have a really good place to hide but it likely won't do any good. Grandmaster Nikis likes Janna's mother. Even the _Emperor_ stepped carefully around that Tenno."

With _reason!_

"She is not harmed." Lorinos said mildly. "She will not _be_ harmed. She will remember you going to bed. There will be a medical alert from your quarters late tonight but they will not be able to save you, Brianna Enginus. You will have a massive stroke and perish before medical assistance can reach you. There won't be anything anyone can do but mourn you. As stressed as you have been, no one will suspect otherwise. They will grieve, but they will go on. You are needed elsewhere. I don't have to be kind. I choose to be out of respect and because I wish you calm."

"Really?" Brianna asked mildly. Then she laughed. There was little humor in her mirth. "Kind? Respect? You made a funny. What did you do? Engineer in an actual sense of humor? Of _course_ such a malady will fool _Nikis_." She chuckled a bit sourly. " _Sure_ it will. Get lost, you Orokin fool. I won't help you and I don't want to have to clean up the _mess_ the Tenno will leave when they _catch_ you here."

"Brianna Enginus, you are Orokin and you are needed." The Orokin took a slow step towards her and she did not react. "You are very angry right now but you will feel better when we are home and you have had a chance to rest. Come." He held out a hand that she glared at. "I can command you. I do not wish to."

" _Can_ you?" Brianna asked in a very quiet voice. "You sold my contract, my genetic bonding, to someone who died doing something even stupider than anything _you_ could have thought up. Which is saying something. I am no longer your pet physician, Lorinos Orokin. My name is _Brianna_ , no more, no less. _Begone!_ "

"Brianna Enginus, take my hand." The golden eyes caught and held her, but she slammed her own eyes shut. He sighed. "I understand your rage, but I will not harm you. I need you. Brianna Enginus, your genetics cannot be denied. You will serve."

Something brushed her short hair. No, that _wasn't_ physical! It was in her mind, seeping past her desperate attempts to block it.

"I! DO! SERVE!" Brianna managed between gasps. "But… never… _you_ … again! _GET OUT OF MY MIND!_ " She screamed as a hand touched hers. But...

 _Brianna!_ That wasn't the Orokin that spoke into Brianna's mind! That was _Janna!_ Free? _Are you all right?_ _What is going on?_

 _Janna, run!_ Brianna begged as her mind was slowly overwhelmed. _Run! Flee. Get away! You… I can't… He is… I can't stop him!_

"Brianna, there is no one here!" Janna said slowly aloud. Of course, he was hidden from everyone else's sight. Likely all the sensors too. In all likelihood, only she could see him and only when he wished.

"There _is_ _!_ " Brianna forced past teeth that tried to clench down on her words. "Janna! Code: Orokin OMEGA! _RUN!_ " She screamed as agony tore through her, too slow and too late to stop her from warning the young Tenno of the danger. 'Hidden Orokin infiltrator'. Even Tenno knew not to fight such things on their terms. Janna was many things. She wasn't stupid.

"What? No!" The Orokin started to cry out as feet slammed the floor and then the door hissed. An alarm started blaring. "What have you _done?_ " Strong hands grabbed her and hefted her as _gray_ swirled around her. She was going under. She tried to clench her teeth, but they would not.

 _I… will... never… serve… you...again!_

Then she knew no more.

* * *

Elsewhere

Brianna woke, aware but detached from everything. She lay on a golden bed, clad in a golden skin-tight suit. She was disinterested. A golden drone hovered nearby but she ignored it. She knew she felt anger, fear, all of that, but it was held away from her somehow. She felt constrictions on her upper arms and her upper legs, but the limbs moved easily when she tried them. She looked at her closest arm and saw a medical wrap around her upper arm. Probably covering a blood filter attached to her brachial arteries. Likely her legs had the same put into her femoral arteries. All but the highest caste Orokin had always been petrified of blood borne illnesses. _Those_ …? Well, _they_ had other options.

"Ah, Brianna Enginus, you wake." She did not look at the voice. Instead, she eyed the drone. A multipurpose Orokin model, it was likely armed. She looked at the bed and it was a standard Orokin design. The room, likewise, was standard Orokin design. The voice sighed. "Brianna Enginus, you are needed."

"You do not own my contract. You gave up the genetic bindings when you sold me to a madman." The woman once known as Brianna Enginus, first ranked biologist and psychologist of the Orokin said in calm voice. "You have stolen me from the ones who my loyalty belongs to. I will not assist you." She closed her eyes and lay back on the bed.

"You will." The other's voice was soft. A young boy's scream sounded but Brianna did not react. The Orokin sounded confused as the boy's sobbed. "You are blocked, but your empathy is strong. You always reacted to children in pain even when sedated." Suddenly, he was wary. "Why are you not now?"

"You lie." Brianna said flatly. "It is what you do. Anything you say or do will be a lie or intended to assist a lie."

" _This_ is not a lie."

A warm mass landed on the bed beside her and Brianna looked to see a young boy, maybe ten years old lying there, bound hand and foot. His left arm was bleeding. It wasn't bleeding badly, but she knew the boy was hurting. That particular Orokin knew exactly how to hurt without killing. It had been one of his favorite pastimes. At least when she had known him before, he had never done so to unwilling participants but many things had changed since then. Every fiber of her being called out for her to help the boy, but she knew if she did, she was doomed. If she gave this scum a millimeter, he would take her back and bind her again. She could not allow that. She _would_ not allow that.

"No, that is a trap." Brianna said mildly. "A trap cloaked by a lie. You will not kill the boy." The boy stared at her and she shook her head. "He will not kill you, boy. He needs you for something just as he needs me." The Orokin sputtered something that Briana ignored. She nodded to the boy. "Can you move?" He nodded a little. "Then please kick my left foot."

"Why?" The boy asked, his tone dull. He was drugged either with pharmaceuticals or EM radiation, both could produce similar effects.

"I will not serve him." Brianna said calmly. "Never again. I am sure he has a cunning plan that cannot possibly go wrong this time. Unlike all the other times." That sarcasm came through whatever was blocking her emotions just fine and the boy stared at her, eyes huge. "That said, he is not the holder of my contract. I refuse to serve him."

"Your contact holder is dead, Brianna Enginus." The Orokin said firmly. "I can renew your genetic bond. I _will_ help you. You will serve."

"No, you will not. I will not." Brianna replied. "Kick my left foot please." She asked the boy.

"What will that do to you?" The boy asked, not moving.

"Nothing but hurt me." Brianna reassured him. "It will prove that you _can_ hurt me. Since he says he doesn't want to hurt me, then if you are not under his control, you _can_ hurt me. If you are?" She shrugged. "Then you will do whatever he orders. No matter how nasty or evil the act, you have no choice if you are under his control. I am sure his twisted mind has all kinds of nastiness awaiting me. I will not serve him."

"I… I can't." The boy said weakly. He started to cry. "I don't want to be bad, but… I can't." Brianna was not surprised.

"It is not your fault, boy. He has had a very long time to learn how to make people do as he wishes." Brianna said mildly. "Please move as far from me as you can. I do not wish to hurt you." The boy stared at her and then slid away from her. Whatever was holding her emotions cracked for a moment. She smiled at him and only then turned her head to look the Orokin who was gaping at her. "I have spent a great deal of time around very sneaky people recently. I asked one of those sneaky people for a favor. She didn't want to give it, but when I explained, she did. That Tenno is a good being. Not a nice being, but a good being. You are neither and I will not serve you."

With that, she clenched down on the perfectly normal seeming tooth that she had asked Alicia to make for her and install. To every sensor available, the molar looked just like natural tooth enamel. She hadn't divulged the full extent of her past to _anyone_ other than Karl who had notified Tenno Intelligence. They had already known of course, but Alicia in particular had understood.

That Tenno understood about being controlled by an insane Orokin.

Brianna smiled grimly at Lorinos Orokin as the mild derivative of Saryn toxin that had filled that tooth flooded her mouth. She treasured the agony and the look of stunned shock on his face, but then a hand grabbed her face and energy played across it. She stared up at… She couldn't see the woman's face through the glare of energy. But the voice! She had heard the voice recently! But where?

"No, Brianna Enginus." The woman who was so familiar but not said gently. "This is not your time. Rest now. You are needed."

Brianna was fighting with everything she had as the toxin that had been burning her mouth vanished in a haze of energy. Golden-grey energy that swept her up and held her tight, soothing her into back into slumber.


	10. Chapter 10

**Shades of heresy**

"She is awake." A familiar young voice said close by as Brianna swam back to consciousness. "Her face is all icky though. Is she going to be all right, Beta?"

"She is angry, Ivan. She has that right." An equally familiar female voice said quietly. "But she is alive. Go on, you have class."

"She was nice to me. I hope you feel better soon, Ma'am." Small lips brushed Brianna's cheek and then were gone. She heard feet on the floor and then a door hissed.

"Yes." The woman sighed deeply. "Yes, you were, Brianna Enginus. Even as blocked as you were, as angry as you were, you _were_ kind to him. Thank you for that. I am sorry. We do need you. This…" A hand stroked Brianna's cheek. "This violation is not what you deserve, but we _do_ need you. You will forgive us in time, but you will never forget it any more than you can forget the other betrayals. He sees nothing wrong in what he did. To you, to me, to the kids… I need your help, Brianna Enginus."

 _That is not my name._ Brianna tried to speak that aloud and could not. Something was in her mouth.

"I understand why you did that, but you frightened Ivan very badly. He watched your _face_ melt half off!" The woman could hear her somehow and was not happy. Brianna tried to move, to do anything, but she couldn't. "You will not be able to move. Your nerves are inhibited. The regeneration of your face and neck is not done yet. I assume that was a Tenno toxin of some kind. Nasty stuff, whatever it was. I know you are afraid, I know you are angry. You have a right to both. He hurt you, used you and then threw you away. He would do the same to me if he could, but I am his only hope and you? You are _mine_."

 _I will not serve him!_ Brianna snapped in her mind.

"No, you will not." The other replied to the irate medic's mental voice and then chuckled when Brianna tried to stiffen. "Brianna Enginus, only an idiot would expect you to serve him after what he did to you and I try very hard not to be an idiot. _He_ expects the treatment that you will undergo shortly to rebind you to him. To reform you into a toy for his use and abuse as before. It will not."

 _What are you going to do to me?_ Brianna demanded in her mind.

"I am going to give you something that will reform you on a genetic level." The other said sadly. "There will be a great deal of pain. Even Orokin science cannot alleviate that completely. We have machinery here that could help, but none of us know how to use it. You do."

 _I won't help you! I_ **can't** _help you! If it is Orokin_ _equipment_ _, it is_ _all_ _gene locked to-_

Brianna broke off as horrified realization struck. If they could rebuild her DNA any way they chose, they could make her able to use _any_ Orokin equipment! The Collapse had occurred when all of the Orokin who had been able to use the equipment had been killed. No one else could use it. _Billions_ of people had perished for lack of any alternative sources of food, power and other essentials other than what the Orokin had controlled so closely.

"Yes." The other was gentle now, so gentle. "He wants to use you, me and mine to rebuild Orokin. One destroyed soul at a time, of course. Our wishes mean nothing to him."

 _They never did._ Brianna said weakly. _It won't work. There are others,_ **many** _others who will fight to keep it from happening._

"The Lotus is gone. The Grineer, Infested and Corpus are great threats. The Tenno may or may not fight." A hand was stroking Brianna's arm now. "But it will be _Orokin._ The rightful ruler will take control and hopefully kill this fool before he causes too much damage through his silliness. I bet Eliza will not be happy with him." At that, Brianna went totally still and the woman made a soft noise of agreement. "Yes, _we_ know she is Empress. _He_ doesn't. _He_ thinks to be Emperor, but as you know, he is a fool. Utterly incapable of performing the job and utterly ignorant of that fact. Eliza was a good woman. A strong woman to survive all of what she endured. I bet she makes a good Empress." A finger rubbed Brianna's nose even as she felt an itch start there. "Easy, Brianna Enginus. Not long now. You have been alone so long. That ends today."

 _BUT I DON'T WANT IT!_ Brianna screamed in her mind.

"Neither did I. This will hurt you and you will be very angry at us for long, long time. We will help you and you will help us. It is what a good pack does. Easy now." The other crooned. "A little stick and a great change. One small step for a woman,..." The other said gently. "...one giant _leap_ for humanity's _survival_."

Something sharp stuck the back of Brianna's head. Before she could do anything, white hot but cold agony flared inside Brianna's skull. Through the torment, she heard kind words, both aloud and in her mind.

"Welcome to our pack, my dear."

Then all she could do was lie there as anguish scoured her from the inside out. The feelings were odd, unlike anything Brianna had ever experienced in her life. She felt colors in them. Red, green, blue, yellow… It wasn't just in her skull now. It was in her arms, her legs, her chest and abdomen. It was searing along every nerve, every muscle, every ligament and tendon. Every blood vessel, every skin cell, every _everything_. She screamed in silence as gray darkness swept her up and held her colored pain in gentleness that did little to alleviate the torture.

Someone was singing softly nearby but Brianna couldn't make out the words. She was floating in something. No, she was lying on something soft with warm bodies all around her. Something found her lips. The tube was gone and she was parched. She drank, unable to do anything else as the hurt continued. Whatever the fluid was, it wasn't water. It was something else. Something warm, thick and nourishing. It tasted odd, but right as wrong as that was. Whatever she was drinking from wasn't metal or plastic. It felt like flesh but equally odd. She was floating again. It was both right and wrong and she could do nothing but cry as the pain tore her to bits.

As Brianna, the kind and gentle medic who specialized in mental traumas, beloved of most of the clan of Tenno known as 'Karl's Shadow',... _perished_.

* * *

One rebirth later

She woke, aware of warm bodies all around her. Her pack sister was crying beside her, her tears falling like hot rain onto the now awake woman's face. She could feel… It was so wrong, but it felt so right. Every sense was hyper-aware. As good as her senses had been as an Enginus, now? They were far more refined. She knew instantly that there were twenty three beings surrounding her. Seventeen of them were physical if odd, and the others were energy form. All were worried. She could hear them, feel them, sense them with senses she had no words for. Everything hummed around her, waiting to come to life at her order. At her whim.

"I am sorry." Beta said weakly. "I am so, so sorry, Brianna Executor."

"That is not my name." The newest high caste Orokin said flatly. She sat up, aware of the small forms easing away from her as she glared around. Her skin was the pale gold of high Orokin. She didn't need to look to know her hair had changed to the black that the high caste Orokin had preferred, probably at least shoulder length now, and her arms were far longer than human normal.

"Yes it _is!_ " Beta retorted, reaching for the golden hands. "Your name is _Brianna Executor!_ You are the highest rank, barring the Council of Executors and the _Emperor_. Under Orokin, your _will_ is _law_." She gave the hands a squeeze, then released them, knelt and bowed her head. "For the transgressions, I submit to your mercy, Executor. It was for Orokin, so I have no regrets except the pain it caused you."

"Get up." Brianna wasn't angry. Not really. Her emotions were diluted somehow. "Do you have _any_ _idea_ what you have _done?_ This is _wrong_. On so many levels. This is _heresy_ at its most base. I _am not an Executor!_ "

"You are now." Beta did not raise her head. She gasped as Brianna wished the other woman's head to come up and it _did_ , raised by a golden beam of energy. Brianna tried to stop the thought that slammed through her, but then the kneeling woman recoiled as the sound of a slap came. But Brianna hadn't moved! That had been her wish come to life! To the slap the woman across the face! _She_ hadn't done it. The _technology_ had! The physical impact had been put forth by Orokin technological wizardry guided by her unspoken will.

"You..." Brianna was shaking. "No. I _cannot_. I _must_ not..."

"We are your pack, Alpha Brianna Executor." Beta said softly. "We are yours in life and in death. My life is yours." She slowly fell to the floor, rolled and exposed her neck in an oddly formal way. All of the forms around them, almost two dozen small and not so small forms, all did the same as Brianna stared at them.

"Alpha? Beta?" Brianna said slowly. "This is wrong." She shook her head, retreating a step. Everyone made way for her, most of the young ones had their faces to the floor and she could feel the fear coming from them. "This is all wrong."

" _You_ can make it right." Beta was still crying as she looked at Brianna. "What we did was needed, but you will not forgive soon, if ever. I am sorry, but we needed you. You. As you are now."

"This is _wrong!_ " Brianna snapped. "There are forms, procedures, for a _reason!_ " She backed up to the wall, aware that the skin tight suit she wore was morphing into a gown. "Stop!" She commanded and the clothing stopped in mid change before reverting back to her suit.

"You raiment is-" Beta began. Only to cut herself off as Brianna held up a hand.

"Don't." Brianna snarled. "I cannot control this! Myself." She shook her head. "This… This is too much."

She gasped as input flooded every sense. Hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, mind, all of it was being deluged with input. Every single machine in the entire area – a TOWER!- was querying her, asking for orders! She demanded her location and the tower controller gave it! The tower was on Mars, secreted in the core of a dormant volcano. Not that mere _magma_ would harm an Orokin built structure. She clasped her hands to her skull as more and more information flooded her senses, overwhelming her. She struggled but it was like trying to stop a _tide_ with a _teaspoon_. Nothing hurt, but she couldn't focus. Couldn't think. It was too much. She was drowning in input. She collapsed to her knees and then to the floor, sobbing.

Hands grabbed hold of both of hers, pulled them down into warm embraces and held on. Other forms stepped close, warmth surrounded her and the overwhelming input faded. It was still coming, but she could think!

"Tell the machines to limit the input until you can handle it. You will adapt quickly. Humans have always been adaptable and Orokin far more so." Beta said quietly. She wasn't close. She wasn't one of the ones holding Brianna.

 _Please… Slow down so I can adapt._ Brianna begged in her mind and a soft caress of power soothed her as the input vanished. No, it didn't vanish, but the flow of information became a _trickle_ instead of a _tide_. Another caress. It was almost a mechanical apology. Almost. She glared at Beta, ignoring the forms around her. "What have you _done?_ "

"The machinery has been without lawful commands for long, long time." Beta said sadly. "Ever since the last Orokin here died. It is lonely. We could access some. Prince Robert could access some, but not much. You can access it _all._ "

"In the name of the First Empress, _WHY?_ " Brianna shouted that as she rose, shoving the forms around her away as she stalked towards Beta who did not flinch under her rage. " _I AM NOT AN EXECUTOR!_ "

"You were not. You are now." Beta did not move as Brianna stepped right up to her. "Your body has been reformed into the perfection of Orokin high caste. Now, you can do anything you want."

" _I DID NOT WANT THIS!_ " Brianna screamed loud enough that several of the small forms nearby retreated.

"Please do not scare the pups, Brianna Executor." Beta said quietly. "They have been frightened enough." Brianna looked from the woman in front of her to a sea of scared faces, most young. Her heart fell as she saw a little girl start to cry. The tyke _couldn't_ have been three years old.

"She doesn't like us." The girl said weakly through her tears as an older woman scooped her up and held her close. From the shared appearance, the woman was the girl's mother and from the vital signs that Brianna could see displayed in her vision somehow? _She_ was scared too, just better at hiding it.

"We hurt her, Gretchen." Beta said softly. "Are you happy when you get hurt?"

"No." The girl's feeble voice was an ice-pick into Brianna's tormented soul. "We didn't mean to be bad, Miss Alpha Ma'am." She begged, holding out a tiny hand to Brianna. The hand was withered, bent the wrong way and Briana stared at the girl. "Please don't be mad!" The girl begged. "We will be good! I swear!"

"Why?" Brianna moderated her tone, but the intensity was still ceiling high at the least. "Do you have _any_ idea how many laws you just _broke?_ How many _regulations?_ How many _commandments?_ _I_ will be put to death for this blasphemy and you? If you are _lucky_ , you will die. You had no authority to do this."

"We are Dax and less than Dax." Beta said quietly. "He ordered. We can only obey. Our lives are not ours. They have not been since the Tenno created the Mother."

At that, Brianna stilled. The voice! With her memory enhanced by this horror, Brianna knew the voice! She had only heard it once, but it had been memorable. Not many people talked _back_ to Nikis or manged to _escape_ him as Kat had. Brianna had heard a bit about what had happened with Kat. She had demanded to go to Neptune to help Kat as crazy as that was, but Tiana had denied her 'request'. Rightly so. When Brianna had calmed down, she had been aghast at what she had wanted. Yeah, sure. Put herself with all of her accumulated knowledge from both Orokin and Tenno in the hands of the _Corpus Clergy?_ That would not end well at all.

"Kat?" Brianna demanded. "You are Kat!"

"No." Beta replied, still not moving. "I am a copy of the energy form known as Kat housed in a meat body. We call her 'Mother' for she _is_ our mother. She bore us, nurtured us all unknowing."

At that, Brianna stilled even further. "I wasn't aware that was possible." She managed after a moment.

"For anyone _sane_ , it is _not_." Brianna was very angry, but managed it well. Better than Brianna was. "Unfortunately, as you well know, sanity was never the strong point of that idiotic Orokin who kidnapped you. This copy is degrading. _All_ of our copies are degrading. Slowly but inexorably."

"I cannot help you." Brianna said slowly, her senses reeling from this sudden information. Beta wasn't lying. A thought had a screen show up in Brianna's sight that showed degradation to the core of energy that was all that Beta really was. Brianna stared around and every single corporeal form was a meat shell surrounded energy forms. Even the little girl! "Perhaps, someone else could, but after what was done, after I was taken… Tenno _will_ come for me and they will _not_ come in peace."

"We know our time is short." Beta shook her head. "The Tenno or whoever will have great deal of difficulty finding you here. This tower was a refuge. It is shielded from everything the builders could imagine, including psionics."

Well, that trashed asking the Oracles for help. Not that they likely would have, but Brianna had been contemplating distress calls and such.

"How many?" Brianna asked as she looked at Gretchen who hid her face.

"Our pack has three hundred and seventy four beings who can function." Beta said quietly. "Fifty three more are catatonic. They will fade in time, and none can aid them. The transition from organic to energy was not easy for any."

"What did he do?" Brianna breathed, her emotions fettered again. Or something within her was helping her cope with rage the likes of which she had only seen in Tenno. As powerful as she was now? Acting out would be bad. "He did this."

"He did." Beta said quietly. "I do not know when he realized what Kat was, but she fled her prison many times. One time, she encountered him and he was fascinated by her. Then even more by the great golden bird that pursued her."

"Zephyr." Brianna had thought herself beyond shock. "So… he…?"

"Every time Zephyr appeared, anyone she touched, he _took_." Beta said with a growl of pure wolf rage. "She brushed up against Gretchen's mother. No more. That was _all_ the cause he needed to take them _both_. To _hurt_ them both. To make them both this parody of life."

"I thought the bird woman was pretty." Gretchen pleaded. "She was nice! She didn't do this!"

"No." Brianna said slowly. " _He_ did."

A door hissed open nearby and everyone moved as Brianna slowly strode to stand between them and the door where he stood. He smiled at her.

"Are you feeling better?" Lorinos inquired. She just looked at him, face blank, and he frowned slightly. "No need to be rude, my dear. We will be good friends."

"Will we?" Brianna said in a very quiet voice. But underneath her voice, a distant wolf howled in rage. Everyone else in the room stiffened but _he_ didn't hear it. He only had eyes for her.

"Yes." His smile came back. "You will make a wonderful Empress. A Healer Empress, one to bring peace and light back to the Solar System."

"Will I?" Again, the wolf howled in Brianna's voice and _again_ , he didn't _hear_ it. Everyone else in the room did though. Gretchen's tears faded and the little girl was smiling.

"Brianna Executor, you were needed. You have come through your ordeal and now?" The Orokin in front of her held out a hand that she ignored. "Come my dear, your future awaits."

"With you?" Brianna asked, her tone disinterested now.

"You will rule the new Orokin at my side." Lorinos waved a hand at the assemblage. "These will serve."

"And you don't care that they are all dying." Brianna replied, still disinterested.

"They are energy forms, energy forms cannot die." Lorinos sighed deeply. "Do not make me order you. I can."

"No, you can't." Brianna was working hard to sound bored now even as rage sang though every pore and the machinery around her begged for release.

"Yes, I can." Lorinos said with a frown. "I am higher rank than you."

"Are you?" Brianna inquired, still trying hard to stay calm. "Because I very recently saw a list of the Council of Executors as they were _just_ before the Collapse." At that, Lorinos stiffened. "And do you know what?"

What she leveled at him might have been called a smile. The same way a _shark's_ was.

" _Your name_ wasn't on that list."


	11. Chapter 11

**Angry sort-of deities**

"What?"

The chorus on confusion came from all around Brianna as she focused on the golden skinned being in front of her. His mind was reaching out for her but this time, she could feel him trying to take control and more importantly? Stop it. She rebuffed his mental influence with ease. She had access to every system in the tower and the tower felt her rage, felt her determination. It didn't want her angry with _it_ , so it offered everything it had.

He knew. She could see it in his eyes. He hid it well, but he _knew_ that he was outmatched here. He couldn't access as much as she could and she was just as enhanced as he was now. He was far more experienced though. He rallied.

"That is not true." Lorinos didn't bluster, didn't even quiver. "Your information is inaccurate."

"Is that so?" Brianna inquired. "Well, in that case, I will be sure to tell the Empress of Orokin that she is wrong the next time I see her."

Utterly flat. Utterly calm. Utterly _devastating_. Lorinos flinched, a first in Brianna's experience. Then again, he more than likely hadn't recently faced someone like her. A furious _equal_.

"But… he is..." Gretchen's confused voice came from behind Brianna, but the enraged female Executor didn't take her eyes off her enemy.

"No, he is not." Brianna replied. "I do not know what he did to get kicked off the Council, but it was likely something foolish. It _must_ have been pretty spectacular. Orokin was all about money and power, and he had lots of both. His name was not on the list."

"Whatever list you saw was not the right one." Lorinos tried again.

"Oh?" Brianna was ready. She knew what was coming and she could see Lorinos did too. "Obviously, Gilliananhorisa and Graj who _were_ on the list were _not_ Council members. Because _you_ say so." At those names, Lorinos went totally still and Brianna nodded. "Yes. You see, Gilliananhorisa survived to this time and made a hell of a mess. She tried to enslave a Tenno Healer's daughter and Iriana took extreme offense to that."

 _She did._ A golden from appeared nearby. The Orokin shade was shaking her head. _Lorinos, you idiot! Stop this silliness before she loses her temper!_

"Shut up, Gillie!" Lorinos snapped. "I have this!"

Gillie? Brianna felt faint. Was this the shade of the Executor who had hurt Iriana? Who had killed Karl? How? Diana had killed that one and the assassin very rarely left such things half done. Was this her? There were no expletives that Brianna knew of that came _close_ to that level of bad if so. Nikis, Eliza, Oracle, the Reverend Mother, Iriana... _Everyone_ would be pissed!

 _All you have is a world of hurt, heretic!_ The golden shade nodded as Briana looked at her. _I am not Gilliananhorisa. I am an illegal copy he made of her energy. He was kicked off the Council for this heresy. I was linked to her and_ _saw what she did. S_ _he was not amused by what he did to her._

"Are there no limits to the blasphemy you contemplate, Lorinos?" Brianna asked into the silence that fell. She looked at the golden shade who eyed her impassively. "I cannot trust."

 _Such would be foolish indeed._ The shade agreed. _Almost as foolish-_ She broke off and gasped as Lorinos' eyes flashed. The golden form was wavering as power flared from the tower walls to strike her. _As…. believing a word… he says…_

"Enough." Brianna said in a very quiet voice and the tower responded to her wish. The energy assailing the golden shade winked out. Brianna slowly shook her head. "Gillianahorisa's crimes are many, against many. Human, Tenno, other. I may be Orokin now, but I know I am not qualified to judge such. I was a doctor, not a judge."

"That is my property." Lorinos said with a glower that was wasted. Brianna did not even look at him.

"Stolen property." Brianna corrected absently. "Yes, you are Orokin and high caste, so you may legally take anything you wish from _lower_ caste." The last had everyone tensing. "Gilliananhorisa was your equal. Stealing from her was a _bad idea_." She looked at the shade. "Has he followed _any_ of the protocols?" She asked carefully.

"No." The golden woman was just as angry as Brianna, if not more so.

"I see." Brianna sighed deeply. "I cannot trust you, but such a crime against a high Orokin demands _some_ form of retribution." She shook her head. "Tower, secure this revenant in a meat shell for transport to judgment."

"What?" Lorinos demanded even as an organic form coalesced around the shade.

More than one person gagged, but Brianna did not react as the form took shape, built before their eyes from the inside out. Bones, muscles, skin, hair… The Orokin who suddenly stood before Brianna appeared just as stunned as Lorinos. She started to cover herself but a thought from Brianna had a formal gown sweep around her. The stunned shade shook her head but before she could speak, Brianna did.

"You can leave that form. I do not recommend such." Brianna warned. "I warn you not to flee. If you do, I will notify the Tenno Grandmaster of the Dead and he will exact vengeance for the destruction of Tenno Karl." What Nikis would do would almost certainly be neither pretty _nor_ quick.

"I will not. I swear it on the name of Talia the First." Gilliananhorisa slowly knelt and put her arms in the proper places for obedience to a master. "You are true Orokin." She hissed at Lorinos as he sputtered. " _He_ is a fool. Emperor? Ha!"

"As jokes go, that was not very good, no. I think I will let him explain to the Empress his desire to take her place." Brianna replied. "If he is _lucky_ , she will just destroy him on the spot. If he is _unlucky_ , she may show him _why_ he is utterly inadequate for such a responsibility. In such a case, his suffering would be eternal." Her tone moderated. "I may be Orokin, but I will not be cruel. What do you wish to be called?"

"The kids call me Gee. I like them." The meat clad shade replied with a nod. "I… I never imagined what he was doing. None of us did. The link was one way. I could see some of what she did, but she blocked me out. She would not hear my pleas."

Part of her was focused on Gee, the _rest_ of her was watching Lorinos try to salvage something from the shambles of his plans. She was not, therefore, surprised when he spoke.

"Shade 312, Brianna Executor is tired. Help her rest." Gretchen gave a tiny cry as she slid from her mother's hands and a small silver thing flew to her hand from a wall socket. The woman grabbed, but couldn't touch Gretchen. The girl was grimacing, trying to fight the command as her body took a step toward Brianna. But she couldn't fight. She couldn't even speak as the rest of the pack stared in horror.

Brianna glanced at the male Executor and shook her head. She went to one knee as Gretchen extended the small hypo towards her. She didn't even bother with power. She just plucked the hypo from the girl's hand, tossed it into the air and it vanished in a flash of gold. Then she canceled the male Orokin's commands and Gretchen immediately started crying. Brianna shook her head as she drew the crying girl into her arms.

"It is all right, pup." Briana said as the girl cried. She hugged the girl gently, but the newest Orokin felt from the girl was wrong. So wrong, so twisted. As if someone with no knowledge of anatomy or decency had tried to make a human looking form and failed miserably. She only needed _one_ guess as to _who_. "It is all right, Gretchen. It is going to be all right."

The gaze Brianna turned on the male Executor…

"Oh dear." Gee said weakly as power flared around Brianna. Shields and more. _Much_ more. Very few had ever seen a fully enraged high caste Orokin. Fewer still had _survived_ seeing such. The Sentients had proven to be more than a match for Orokin technology, but none of _them_ were here. Tenno were laws unto themselves but even _they_ knew not to face an enraged Orokin on the _Orokin's_ terms. Even such mighty beings as most Tenno stepped carefully around Eliza in the heart of Avalon. For good reason. _Nikis?_ Not so much. Then again, he generally didn't step carefully _anywhere._

"Gee, who do you serve?" Brianna's words were not a demand, not quite. They _were_ to be answered.

"Until judgment? You." The shade responded instantly. "I am bound by the protocols that he has ignored. You have followed them precisely. I obey. Command me!" Brianna looked at her and nodded. Such were iron clad for a reason. Lorinos didn't care, but Gee would not betray Brianna. Not now. And since Brianna held her until judgment? Lorinos could not take control again.

"Take Gretchen to her mother. Stand with the pack and shield them the best you can." Brianna rose to her feet as the shade did. She held out the crying girl and the meat clad shade took Gretchen gingerly despite the girl's cries and feeble struggles.

"No!" Gretchen begged. "Miss Alpha! No! Don't fight! He will _hurt_ you!"

"He will try. It is all right, Gretchen." Brianna did not look away from Lorinos who looked unsure. As well he _should_. This was not the woman he had known. Not the woman he had cowed and beaten more than once. The woman he had sold to a madman. This was someone new. Someone who had been around scary Tenno for quite some time. Someone powerful and _angry_. "I am sure any members of the pack who fought him fared badly. Because even a fool like him will have implanted obedience protocols in any energy form he created. I am not energy form. Whatever obedience I might have owed him was negated when he changed my form against my will. We are of equal rank, but _my_ access to the tower is full. _His?_ "

The tower systems did not understand her rage, but they understood her desire just fine. Information flowed back and forth at light speed. Plans were suggested, considered, discarded or amended at the speed of thought. A plan of action was set before two heartbeats had gone by and she implemented it before her heart beat a third time.

"You cannot kill me." Lorinos said slowly. "Not in a tower." Orokin towers had been built to safeguard Orokin lives, so, no, she couldn't. However...

"Your _life_ is secure." Brianna replied absently, seeking communication conduits that had long been disused. None of them functioned and she directed the tower to start alternate plans. Such took maybe three milliseconds. "You _will_ live to face judgment for your crimes, heretic." Her tone was ice cold now as a golden energy field shimmered into being behind her, shielding the others from what was about to happen. There was no way Lorinos was getting past that. "Now as to how _hale_ you are at the time of judgment? We shall see. My only true hope is that you are given to the _Tenno_. They can do far worse to you than I can for far _longer_ than I can. And you have earned every _ounce_ of pain."

She slowly reached up, intertwined her fingers and cracked each knuckle in slow, deliberate sequence. Each crack had Lorinos flinching. He remembered. Only when she had cracked each of the knuckles in all ten fingers did she unravel her fingers and slowly tilt her head from side to side. A crack sounded and Lorinos flinched harder and yes, that _was_ a puddle that was forming at his feet! Then her eyes flashed and she smiled. A full face smile of bared teeth that held no mirth, only dreadful promise.

A howl came from her lips as fire, ice, lightning and _worse things_ started to fly back and forth between her and him, each shunted aside by shields that would easily shrug off any amount of Grineer space borne artillery. A howl that was echoed by many throats behind her as she finally let her rage loose.

* * *

Nearby

"What the hell?"

The place had been quiet as a tomb and Corpus Survey Team 378-Aleph 98 had become a bit lax as a result. Survey teams were not very big, usually less than ten Crewmen strong and this one was no different. All seven of the human forms were well armed. One did not enter an Orokin structure, even a seemingly abandoned one, alone or unarmed unless one had a death wish. Far too many Corpus to count had vanished in such places seeking profits for their employers for any of the team to have any illusions of safety. They had a full complement of proxies of course but those were less than useful in such a place. The walls of most Orokin structures were impervious to all but the most sophisticated Corpus communication devices and few of those would be wasted on survey teams. So, the MOAs and Ospreys needed to have line of sight to accept commands. Add to that, proxies were not very good at being quiet. So, they had them, but they kept them back as the team scouted carefully. Warily. Jumping at every shadow.

But this place… This was any Corpus worker or soldier's _dream_. An Orokin tower. Intact. Not filled with Infested or worse, Corrupted. Not packed with Grineer soldiers trying to claim it for their queens. Untouched. _Functional!_ Oh, they could _all_ smell the profits.

That said, they were not stupid. The Crewmen moved from cover to cover while the two leaders herded the proxies carefully avoiding floor sections that looked like trap panels. The Tech and Nullifier were already on edge when the sound of an explosion ahead had all of the Corpus moving to find what cover they could.

"Anyone see anything?" Gerald F-23 asked as he hefted his Supra. The tech was on his fifth survey mission and knew his luck was likely running out. Few Corpus lived past three. He was loyal and had his orders, but that didn't make him happy to be here. Especially now in command. But he had been given orders by his superiors and if they _could_ get home? He was set for _life._ Everyone else shook their heads. Rachel Z-98 looked at him and he shook his head at the Nullifier. She was powerful, no question, but she was also fairly hard to hide. That big blue bubble was _anything_ but covert. They hadn't seen anything hostile so far, not even a drone! Gerald F-23 would like to keep it that way. He had run into Corrupted twice on missions into the Void and had barely escaped with his life both times.

"Negative, I..." Rachel gasped as golden energy flared around her. "Wh- NO!" She gasped and then fell to lie still, golden energy sweeping over her. Her pack hissed and sparked, obviously disabled somehow.

Gerald F-23 turned to run and he wasn't alone. Every proxy was shutting down! Was that a _man_ running down the hall towards them? A _golden_ man? A gold flash dazed Gerald F-23 for a moment and then-

Wait. Why was he face down on the ground? Who was turning him up so he could see out of his helmet? What was the golden face that was eclipsing his sight? She was _beautiful_. Oddly symmetrical. Not human looking in the slightest, but beautiful nonetheless. Also _annoyed_.

"Well, crap." The vision in Gerald F-23's sight spoke, She didn't sound like any angel that he had ever imagined. "Tower, disable all robotic forms and sequester these until I can speak to them. Where is-? Oh..." She groaned. "Damn. A portal of course. I knew he would flee. Asshole. Tower? Set security to warn of unauthorized portal activity and continue rebuilding com station Sierra Six Delp. We need to contact _someone_ , soon. Especially with _Corpus_ on the premises."

Gerald F-23 could do nothing as the world vanished from around him and gold was everywhere he could see. He couldn't move even as his weapon lifted away from his hands, bouyed up by unseen forces. He felt fear as hands laid him out straight.

"I won't hurt you." The golden vision said quietly and his fear vanished as if it had never been. "That said, I can't have you hurting _me_ either. I dislike this but… Look at me, Corpus." He didn't want to, but the words floated through Gerald F-23's mind and he found himself staring up at the most beautiful golden eyes he had ever seen in his life. He was drowning in them as she smiled gently and his world was perfect. "What is your name, soldier?"

"Gerald F-23." The Corpus soldier said softly, not wanting to disturb her smile.

"What are you doing here?" The woman asked, her hand now stroking his chin. Wait. Where was his helmet? His armor? "Be at ease, soldier. I am not going to hurt you. Any of you if I can help it. But… You are Corpus. Who holds your contract?" She asked.

"Survey. I...shouldn't say..." Gerald F-23 felt sorrow pour through him as she looked sad. He didn't want her sad. "Alad V."

"Oh, not him _again._ " The golden woman was rubbing Gerald F-23's scalp now. It tingled. "He treats his people like garbage."

" _Garbage_ he can recycle and make money on. _People_ are cheap." Gerald F-23 said weakly as something wafted over him and he felt good. Warm. Clean. Whole for the first time in long, long time.

"Well..." The golden woman smiled at him and his world turned bright. "Want a job? I cannot let you go. You have seen far too much for your own safety. But I don't want to hurt or kill you either. You Corpus are human. I find myself in a bit of trouble and could use some help."

"What is wrong?" Gerald asked as he suddenly found himself lying on a bed in a golden room with shimmering walls. The woman was sitting beside him, her hand on his forehead.

"What is _right_ is much shorter list." She frowned and then she sighed. He looked at her in confusion and she shook her head. "No. No, I won't. I could alter your mind and you would never realize it. But that is wrong. That is what your masters do. That is what Lorinos would do. I refuse to be him." She sounded sad again.

"Why not?" Gerald F-23 asked. He really didn't want this woman sad. "If you need us, and you offer us work and cannot let us go, I don't see a problem if you take control of us."

"As fuddled as you are at the moment, you won't." The woman groaned but she was smiling. "Rest now, soldier. We will talk again when you wake."

She patted his forehead and he fell into darkness comforted.

* * *

Reality

Brianna stood up from where the soldiers lay on the floor of the hall and sighed.

"I won't be him." She said firmly. "I won't!"

Various forms were approaching slowly as she stared around at the fallen Corpus men and proxies. She turned to Beta who was eyeing her warily.

"We have a mess to clean up." Brianna said with a shrug. Beta stared at her and then grinned.

"Why do I get the feeling that is going to be fairly common with you?" Brianna glared at the energy form who shrugged. "Tell me I lie."

"You don't." Brianna sighed. "I refuse to be him. Okay. Get these to secure holding, dismantle the Corpus bots." Energy started playing across each fallen proxy. "These will just disappear. That happens a lot to survey teams from what I understand. Gretchen? Um, wait. Gretchen's mother? Can you bring her here? I want to see what he did to you all. See if I can fix any of it."

"My name is Savina, Alpha Brianna Executor." The woman said meekly as she carried Gretchen closer.

"What a mouthful!" Brianna said with a growl. "Call me Brianna please unless it is a formal occasion. That goes for all of you." Everyone looked at her, even Gee had appeared, and then everyone smiled and spoke in unison.

" _By your command._ "

"Oh, hush!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Breakage**

"Janna! Stop!"

The woman who was speaking looked at her companion, but his face was impassive. He knew that if Janna decided to go through them, the young Tenno could and would. The Tenno medic known as Kat was just as happy with this turn of events as Grina was. Less, probably. His mate Iriana would not be happy.

"Move." The young Tenno's word was calm. Sort of. It was cool. Sort of. The Braton Prime rifle she hefted was not wavering in her hands. The Bo Prime staff slung across her back and Lex Prime pistol at her hip also gleamed in readiness. Her Trinity warframe fairly hummed with both power and the young Tenno's rage.

"I know you are angry!" Grina begged. "So am I. So are we!" She nodded to Kat. "But you cannot go after her! You cannot! For all we know, that is what that Orokin wanted. You couldn't hear what whoever it was said. You only heard Brianna and not all of what she said. None of it was caught by the security feeds."

"They did something to me. My dream... They did something to me. I let them take her." Janna snapped, trying once more to get into the portal chamber, but Kat and Grina blocked her way.

She could push past them, but she would likely hurt them. Even as angry as she was, she didn't want to do that. Grina was not quite a clan member, but she was a decent medic and she was trying to atone for her past. Kat _was_ a clan member although he kept denying it. Kept saying he had to be confined.

"How could you stop them?" Kat asked. He was torn on this. He liked Brianna too. The mere thought of the gentle healer taken by an Orokin and subjected to some probably horrible fate would infuriate every member of the clan. But Janna was not trained. She was not equipped properly. She was not _ready_. "Janna, she warned you. She wanted you to _escape_. Not to fight."

" _AND I LET THEM TAKE HER!_ " Janna screamed.

"Janna, Brianna used the code Orokin Omega. She knew what she was facing. She knew neither of you had chance against it." Kat said softly. "She told you to run. She _knew_ you couldn't fight whoever that was. She wouldn't want _this_. You know that."

"What I _know_ is that a member of our clan was taken." Janna snapped. "I have to do something. Tell someone. _Hurt_ someone!"

"Did Brianna swear to the clan?" Grina asked softly. Janna growled at her and Grina shook her head. "Janna. _Think_. Did she swear?" Grina did not move as the rifle came up to cover her. "Janna. You know I am speaking the truth. You are upset, and you have a right to it. But if you leave now, you are in violation of your Clan Warlord's edicts." Grina fought to remain still as Janna struggled with herself. "And if they altered your dreams, then they could have altered _other_ things. Janna… Please..." The former Elder was begging.

A flash behind them had all three turning to look. Healer Iriana stood on the platform, staring at the group in shock. Grina and Kat unarmed, Janna armed and ready to fight. The two unarmed Tenno blocking the way.

"Janna… lower that rifle." That was not a 'request' from the Healer. Janna did. Then she wilted and holstered her rifle. "Janna? Why are you armed? And _leaving?_ "

That was both a query and angry. The last time Janna had left the dojo, she had scared most of the clan when she had braced a fanatic. She had been punished severely both by the clan and by Iriana for that.

"Mom..." Janna was crying now. "Oh, _Mom!_ They took _Brianna!_ "

"What? Who took Brianna?" Iriana stilled and then shook herself. She strode past Grina and Kat to hug Janna who embraced her carefully. Warframes enhanced the user's strength, so it was simply wise to be careful. Janna was all but incoherent so Iriana turned to the others. A glance at Grina and then Iriana focused on her mate. "Kat?"

"I was working in the lab with Grina when the alarms all went off." Kat said quietly. "Neither of us has access, so we were locked in until Janna came and released the doors manually. I don't know all of what happened. Janna was, is, a mess." Iriana nodded, hugging her adopted daughter again. Janna had been a mess before she had been turned into Tenno. She had seen both of her birth parents brainwashed and then killed in front of her. Now? She was a bit better, but still fragile. Another reason the clan didn't want her out and about. "According to Janna, the security feeds didn't show anything, but Brianna used the code 'Orokin Omega'. You know what that means. Orokin infiltrator."

"That… No." Iriana just held her daughter as Janna sobbed. "None of Eliza's people would dare. _She_ would kick their butts."

"It _wasn't_ one of Eliza's people!" Janna all but bawled. "Whoever it was, Brianna knew them. I couldn't hear or see anyone, but someone altered the meal I made for her. And then? She was terrified. I could see her fear. Her rage. I thought she was having a flashback, but it was real. I… I did this. I caused this, somehow. I made the meal." She sobbed.

"Janna, calm down." Iriana gave her a gentle shake. "I have just reported this to Jasmina. She will tell everyone." She jerked. "Oh, she is _not happy!_ " She pushed Janna away from the portal with a bit of urgency. "Better clear the chamber. _Everyone_ is coming. Grina, back." That was flat and Grina moved several paces from the portal chamber's entrance.

"We couldn't let her _leave_ , Healer." Grina said weakly as she moved to the wall and held up her hands.

"You did the right thing." Iriana's words were grudging, but she wasn't one to hate simply to do it. "I don't like you or trust you, but… thank you." She nodded to Grina who returned it. She waved to Kat who stepped to her side. "Janna. Did you hurt anyone?"

"No." Janna said into Iriana's shoulder. "The ones I want to hurt are not here. Brianna is nice!" Janna cried.

The portal flashed again and everyone backed up as the chamber _filled_ with warframes. _Angry_ warframes.

"Iriana! Report!" Tiana snapped as she stepped forward, Jasmina of the Caretakers and Rachel of the First at her side. Will, Olim and Rica raced off to check the dojo. Janas paused and then moved to flank Jasmina, his commander.

"I arrived a few moments ago, Warlord." Iriana said softly. "I found Grina and Kat physically blocking Janna from entering the portal."

"Unarmed." Rachel said softly.

"Neither of us are trusted, Tenno Rachel." Kat nodded to her. "Besides, neither of us wants to hurt her. She has been hurt enough." Rachel nodded back.

"What happened?" Tiana asked as the portal flashed again, more warframes pouring out and sweeping down the hall. More clan members. All angry. Ming, Ric, Alicia, Jill, Aeron, all of them ran into the dojo, seeking threats, enemies, targets, _anything_ to release their rage on. Janna released Iriana and stood upright in front of Tiana as her sponsor Diana moved to her side, the Saryn looking her over.

"I am physically unharmed, Warlord, Tenno Diana." Janna said carefully. "Emotionally? I am shaken. I went to speak to Brianna. I had a very strange dream last night and there was no one else else here to talk to. It wasn't a bad dream." She said quickly when everyone tensed. "But it was strange. Red and gold and..." She shook her head. "I cannot bring it to mind."

Iriana's eyes flashed dangerously. She did that when angry. It was an unforeseen by-product of the attempted enslavement by a surviving Orokin Executor. _Everyone_ had learned that when her eyes were pulsing with energy to stop whatever they were doing or it got loud. Even _Nikis_ had learned that. One reason he liked her. She didn't take crap from him.

"When we are done here..." Oh dear. Iriana's voice was only _that_ mild when she was incredibly pissed and working overtime to keep from scaring people. "...you and I are going to medical, Janna. You and I have a date with a whole bunch of scanners. Kat? Will you assist?"

"Yes, but Grina is better with the scanners than I am." Kat said quietly.

"She cannot _trust_ me!" Grina argued, but very quietly. Wise as keyed up as everyone was..

" _My_ trust doesn't matter at the moment." Iriana snapped coldly enough that more than one listener winced. "Janna? Do you trust her?" Janna nodded. "Why?" Not angry or accusatory, simply curious.

"She made mistakes." Janna allowed. "She did horrible things. She cannot change what she did, but she wants to atone. She has not lied nor fought back when pushed here. She has deft hands and she is gentle."

"She is." Iriana bowed her head and when her eyes came back up, they were normal again and everyone relaxed a little. Angry Healer meant bad things. Calm Healer was much better. "I have wronged you." She said to the former Elder.

"No, you have not." Grina replied. "I hurt you. I nearly _killed_ you. I hurt Michelle and I nearly killed _her_. I wish I could apologize to her as well, but I will likely never see her again."

She gasped as the portal flared again and _this_ time, the portal chamber was filled with four golden warframes all with Prime equipment. Wait. Who had _Wu-Kong Prime_ warframes?

"You shouldn't be here." Tiana said softly as a form in golden gown stepped between the warframes to nod to her. "Gali needs you."

"Excalibur carried the message about Brianna being taken. Nothing more. Mother is pissed. Brianna helped me too." Michelle said firmly, her face cold as she glared at Grina whose eyes bulged nearly out of her head as she stared at the warframes who were all aiming at her.

"Royal… Guard…?" Grina sounded one step from sobbing. "I… _Infected_ … a..."

"You hurt the _princess of Orokin_." The Mag Prime warframe beside Michelle growled, her Boltor Prime aimed and ready. "Say the word, Princess."

"Stand down, Petra." Michelle commanded sternly. "Yes, she hurt me. Yes, she will pay for that. But this is _not_ my mother's domain! Stand _down_. _Now!_ Before Warlord Tiana has you stunned."

"I wouldn't stun her for _that_." Tiana sounded almost amused by all this as Grina looked like she was about to faint. Or curl into a ball and cry. "Aeron has shot her three times so far. We only stunned him the first time." Tiana shook her head. "She stands there and lets him do it. I bet she will allow Commander Petra to do the same."

"Attempted regicide." Grina slowly sank to her knees, dejected. "I thought I had a chance at redemption. I don't. I knew your clan held secrets, Warlord. I had no idea."

"Keeping things secret is the whole idea behind secrets." Tiana said quietly. "If the Corpus or Grineer find out..."

"Kill me." Grina said firmly. "Now." Everyone stared at her. "You _cannot_ trust me with such a secret!"

"Who said anything about _trusting_ you?" Michelle's voice was a cold, dead thing. She has cause to be angry. "Iriana can probably wipe this from your memory, if not? My people can." Grina bowed her head. "Warlord? How may we assist?"

"Janna was with Brianna when the medic was taken." Tiana replied. "She was just filling us in."

"It wasn't your people." Janna said weakly as Michelle looked at her. All of the newcomers went still at that. "I couldn't see anything. I didn't hear anything. But then Brianna… She seemed to be in distress. Maybe a flashback or something. She liked the 'Ghoulish Goulash' I made for her."

"She liked the goulash?" Michelle smiled. "I do to. Mother makes it the best." Janna smiled at her a bit tremulously.

"It was one of the meals your mother taught me to make while I was there." Janna slumped a bit. "I chose it this morning. I knew Brianna was a mess. I thought I chose it at random, but then… Brianna said it was her favorite meal as a child and… before."

"Before." Iriana gave Janna a squeeze. Nothing more needed to be said. Everyone knew about Brianna's past. "And she did not react well."

"She did, actually. At first, she was upset, but then she relaxed." Janna said, confused. "She was smiling and then she went still. She just... still. She scared me, she was so still." Her voice held fear now. "I touched her and she was _so scared_. She broke whatever was holding her for a moment and screamed at me to run. She used the code 'Orokin Omega'." Diana growled at that, but her focus was still Janna. Orokin infiltrator. This was hardly the first time Orokin had done such to Tenno. And far, far worse.

"What?" Michelle was hardly the one one to gasp. She did not move as the Royal Guard surrounded her protectively. No one else moved. " _We_ didn't..."

"It wasn't you." Janna repeated to reassure the princess and her guards. " _Whoever_ it was, she knew him… Him?" She queried her memories, fighting for calm. When she spoke again, it was calmer, analytical. Diana nodded approval. "I don't know if it was male or not. But the feel I got from her when I touched her was that yes, it was a male. One she feared and hated. And I couldn't do _anything_ but _run_." Self loathing swept through her tone.

"What else could you do?" Grina's soft voice asked and everyone looked at her. "Anyone who can sneak into such a place as this, hide from every sensor they have here and _take_ one of the people here without leaving leaving _any_ traces? When _my_ people did it, kidnapped Jac, Sarah, Mishka and Ric, we had the codes and _we_ left traces. No. Janna, you had no chance and she knew it. Brianna wanted you to escape. She feared for you. She loves you. We all do."

Far from reassured, Janna started crying again and Iriana held her gently. Diana laid a hand on the much younger Tenno's shoulder, a gesture of kindness from the ancient assassin. Pragmatic, she might be. She was anything but heartless.

"And once more, my kin make a mess." _Michelle_ was not calm. Oh no. She met Tiana's warframe faceplate with angry eyes. "Do you wish us to leave?" She didn't want to. That was clear from her tone, but she would obey the Warlord's orders.

"No." Tiana said after a moment. "If this is an Orokin mess, then we may need Orokin assistance to detect the assailant." That was grudging, but honest. "To find where they went."

"To get Brianna _back_." Michelle snarled and every Tenno in the area did the same.

Someone was going to pay for this.

* * *

A hidden Orokin tower

Brianna was there when the leader of the Corpus survey team woke. He was unharmed and unbound, but his shock on finding himself clad in in a golden suit instead of his normal crewman attire was hard to ignore. She fought a snicker at his look and manage dot keep from doing it. He was shocked enough without dealing with her odd sense of humor. He had seen her before so her appearance only shocked him a little. She nodded as he stared at her.

"Gerald F-23, my name is Brianna Executor. I did not introduce myself when we first met and that was rude of me. For that? I apologize." She nodded to the stunned Corpus soldier as he stared at her. "You have not been harmed. Your soldiers have not been harmed. Do no violence to me or mine and none of you will be harmed. I may have to keep you prisoner, but I will not be cruel about it."

"You..." Gerald F-23 stared at her and then slowly sank back to the bed on which he lay. "You are Orokin. High Orokin."

"Yes." Brianna said quietly.

"This tower..." The Corpus swallowed hard.

"The owner has fled. Technically, I can claim it as spoils and I think I will." Brianna smiled a bit wistfully. "I always wanted a big house as a home, but this is bit much." She shook her head as the soldier seemed to wilt. "You know you will be remaindered when you do not check in." Alive or dead, it made little difference to the profit driven Corpus. The team would be cut loose as unprofitable to attempt to rescue. He nodded and Brianna sighed. "I am sorry you got caught in the spat between me and the former owner. If I had possessed any time to be more gentle, to find a better way, I would have. But instead? I am stuck with you."

"You won't turn us into Corrupted?" Gerald F-23 asked carefully.

"No." Brianna reassured him. "The neural sentry here is online, but it is under my control. All of the systems report to me. I don't have a lot of rules, but as long as you do not harm to me or mine, I won't punish you. That said, none of you will leave this tower able to report its existence to the Corpus. There are far to many lives at stake for me to act otherwise."

"I see." Gerald F-23 sighed and then shook his head. "I shouldn't be this calm with my life shattered. Are you doing this?"

"I am keeping you calm." Brianna admitted. "No more, and… Hmmm..." She paused as something impinged her sensors. She shook her head and directed her drones to secure another of the Corpus soldiers more closely as she nodded to Gerald F-23. "I might need soldiers at some point in the future. Would you be interested if I offered you a job?"

"The stories say that Orokin service was either heaven or hell, with nothing in between." Gerald F-23 said weakly. "I… I don't know."

"Whatever stories said that are totally true." Brianna replied. "Service to Orokin at its height was either very good or very bad, nothing in between. Me? I will try to be a decent person. For now, just rest. Think about what you might like to do instead of being a slave to the Corpus." He bristled a little at that, but she shrugged. "That is what it was."

"Maybe." Gerald F-23 said with a glower.

"Well, now that you are awake, your quarters are through that door. Food and bathing facilities are provided." Brianna nodded tot he side and a wall shifted to show a suite of rooms. From Gerald's stunned expression, he had never seen such luxurious accommodations. "I have business to attend to. If you need to speak to me, just say my name, 'Brianna Executor.'"

She wasn't sure if he heard her as stunned as he was by the size and beauty of the guest quarters of the tower. She did nod as she left the room, moved to the next door and it opened in front of her to show another Corpus soldier standing with her back to the wall. The female soldier's hand was reddened from where it had been zapped when she tried to access whatever she had tried to access. Brianna looked at the woman and her eyes narrowed. Brianna _knew_ this woman! The medic had helped heal her injuries after a big mess that had involved a bunch of Tenno including Nikis, several Corpus Special Forces and an insane Orokin tower. The another, worse mess. The woman wasn't a common Corpus soldier no matter _what_ she had been wearing when her Nullifier gear had been disabled and she had been knocked unconscious!

" _Violet?_ "


	13. Chapter 13

**Special**

"How badly are you hurt?"

Corpus Special Forces Sergeant Violet, also known as _Adept_ Violet, Herald of the Voices of Amelia, also known as _Priestess_ Violet, Oracle Friend, obviously didn't recognize Brianna. She did not react. Indeed, she did not _move_ as Brianna eased herself fully into the room. The three Orokin drones that surrounded her were _not_ overkill in the slightest. Not with this woman. Brianna slowly shook her head and then sighed.

"I screwed your mission, didn't I?" She asked sourly enough that the female Corpus soldier stared at her. "I am sorry. I had to stop Lorinos and I failed to do so. He fled and I was stuck with seven living, breathing Corpus troops. I am many things, I do not wish to be a murderer." Again, the sergeant did not react and Brianna slowly shook her head again. "I do not look as did or sound as I did. You cannot trust blindly and certainly not someone who looks like me, so I will not ask it. What I _will_ do is provide proper attire for you." She smiled as energy flared and Violet's attire changed from a skin tight bodysuit to a white robe. Her stunned face was covered by a traditional white headdress and then all that was visible was her eyes. Brianna nodded as the human woman's eyes went huge. "I hope you recovered fully, Sergeant. We were very worried about you. The drug you were given has no counterparts in the real world, so we had no idea if there would be more side effects."

"Who _are_ you?" Violet's voice was hushed. "Obviously, you are Orokin, but..."

"My name is Brianna Executor." Brianna said sadly. Violet stared at her and the Orokin nodded. " _Now_ , anyway." She moved to the bed and sat down on it. "I could not give you my name before. You called me 'Medic Three' when we first met and you called me that the _second_ time." Brianna grinned a little. "Because you are crazy."

"Medics One and Two were male." Violent said weakly. "Medic Three..." She snarled a little. "You read my mind."

"No, I didn't." Brianna replied. "I touched Gerald F-23's mind because he was in command. I haven't had time to scan any others. If I had tried to scan yours, I wouldn't have seen anything, I bet. He _was_ in command, wasn't he?" She inquired after a moment. Violet did not react and Brianna sighed. "Never mind. I should know better than to ask such things after so long around Tenno."

"Tenno." Violet said weakly. "The Tenno brought Medic Three. She helped me again after… After..."

"After you used a _really_ weird big gun suit thing to help stop a madman who called himself Horus." Brianna smiled at Violet. Said smile faded. "The drug he gave you allowed you to shape shift and you did. It _also_ drove you mad."

"No one knows that but Tenno." Violet said softly.

"Tenno _and_ the medics they brought in to tend you when you had your breakdown at the tower. Iriana did her best, but she couldn't do it alone. She called me. I went." Brianna glowered at her. "You _refused_ to stay on Avalon. They could have helped you there far better than my own fumbling. You _silly_ woman."

"I..." Violet stammered. "You? But...you were not Orokin."

"I wasn't." Brianna agreed. "Now? Due to a great deal of pain and horror instigated by an evil Orokin with far too few scruples, I am. My life is likely forfeit for this heresy, but I refuse to be evil. Let me see your hand."

There was no command in her words. No power. No mind tricks. Simply a healer wanting to heal. Violet slowly raised her hurt hand and showed it to Brianna who hissed. Blisters had formed all across it. Second degree burns. Brianna knew exactly how painful such were, but the tough soldier would show no weakness.

"Don't move." _That_ was a command. Brianna focused her will on the burnt hand and golden energy played from one drone. Violet hissed as the blisters faded and the red of burns was quickly replaced with pink healthy skin. The shrouded woman stared at her hand and then at Brianna who nodded. "Better?"

"You are not the woman I knew." Violet said slowly.

"I am still scared of you. You like forks." Brianna retorted evenly and Violet actually chuckled.

"I never actually _did_ that." Violet was still tense. "Are we in the tower?" Brianna nodded, mystified and the soldier snarled. "Two of Amelia's Voices were taken by an unknown force and brought to Mars! We lost their signal near here! The team was a cover to search the area!"

"Tower!" Brianna shot to her feet. "Status of any organic prisoners?" She gasped as information flooded her senses. _Awful_ information. "No… Stop! Lead me there!"

She took off at a run, not bothering to close the doors behind her. Violet followed, her white robes eerily silent in the empty halls. Brianna ran through halls, atriums, a grand high vaulted chamber and then more halls. She dashed into a room marked 'Alteration' and came to a sudden, horrified halt. She felt Violet come up behind her, but she was busy trying to control herself.

" _TOWER STOP!_ " Now, Brianna was trying hard not to vomit as she looked at the crying young woman on the table. She wasn't conscious, thank god. The woman on the far table would never speak again. She heard Violet retch.

"No, no, no… Kieko… Abigail, no." The soldier was praying softly as Brianna took a slow step into the medical ward that only a madman could have conceived of.

She moved to the table and just stared for a moment. The girl, woman, was alive. Barely. Abigail was strapped down. Such things were unnecessary with proper Orokin technology, but Lorinos hadn't had full access. Or had just enjoyed it. Either one. He had used Orokin tech to do the rest or it would have killed her just surely as the other had been. Brianna's face was sad as she slowly reached out to touch the still woman's cheek. Abigail's eyes fluttered and Brianna shook her head.

"Sleep." The newest Orokin commanded and Abigail slid into a slumber from which she would not emerge until Brianna allowed her to. "That son of a _bitch!_ _GEE!_ " She screamed.

"Alpha? How may I…?" Gee's voice was hushed she strode into view to stand beside nearby. Then her eyes went huge. "By the Ancestors!" She breathed and then her voice went hard. "Alpha Brianna Executor, none of us were allowed in here."

"If you lie to me, to hell with _Nikis_ , I will give you to the _First_ _Mag_." Brianan snapped. At that, she felt both Violet and Gee recoil. The First Mag was many things, had been many things. Tolerant of people who did things like this was not one of them. It had never been. _Many_ Orokin legends spoke of Mag's wrath in such cases. Both before and after she had died.

"I do not. Scan me as you will, I will allow it." The woman bowed her head and crossed her arms, a formal supplication. "What he did to me, to you, was bad enough. This? No." She begged. " _Why?_ She wasn't a _threat!_ Why didn't he just _program_ her? I know he is evil, but this? Why do... this?" She begged.

"He couldn't program them." Violet said weakly from where she stood. "All Voices are implanted with anti-interrogation protocols. He…?" A question, but not really one.

"Yes." Brianna said sadly as her attention wavered between the horrific scene in front of them and information that only she could see. "He left records. I am… I am reading them now." Despite all of her enhancements, she gagged. "He wiped her mind and then… did this. The protocol went with it. He mean to use them to infiltrate the Voices. But he couldn't program them. So he wiped them both. She is baseline human, so her body was easy to...alter. He must have planned to kill them, turn them into energy forms and leave their bodies...like this. Probably as toys." Brianna snarled as she started to undo the straps by hand. It seemed the right thing to do. "Enough. This is... No. _Enough_." She repeated. "Gee? If Lorinos shows up again and I am not here or disabled? If he threatens this girl again? You are _ordered_ to _call Nikis_ or go and _get him_ if needed. I don't _care_ about collateral damage now! Lorinos must be stopped!"

"Yes, Alpha. Collateral damage be damned. He must be stopped." The shade agreed. "I may have been Orokin once, but this? No. I am female. Some things are unforgivable. Even if the Grandmaster of the Dead destroys me? I don't _care_ now either."

"Yes, some things are unforgivable." Brianna finished undoing the straps and slowly reached up to stroke Abigail's tear and sweat soaked face. "I didn't know she was here. Until you said, Violet, I didn't. The mindwipe was done yesterday and the surgeries finished two hours after that. Kieko perished an hour later, so I couldn't have stopped any of it. But..." She said weakly as her eyes burned despite everything her enhanced genetics could do to stop her from crying. "Does Abigail have any next of kin?" She begged Violet.

"No." Violet moved to the other table and Gee moved to help her undo the straps that bound the still woman there. "Only Kieko and the Voices."

"This was done with limited Orokin tech. It is genetic. Everything is hers." Brianna said quietly as she focused her will and Abigail was suddenly clad in a patient gown that covered her. Medical gear appeared around her. If needed, it would breathe for her, filter her fluids, clean her, basically take care of her in every way. Too little, too late. "I don't know if even Orokin tech can _undo_ this without killing her. I will try. I give my word, I will try. The mindwipe cannot be undone. The girl we knew is gone. If she survives this...this massive violation, she will be someone new."

"The Voices would help her." Violet wasn't arguing.

"I do not doubt they would try." Brianna sighed. "But _can_ they? The…" She fought to keep from gagging. "...additions are viable. They are _healthy_. He even replaced her… Her..." She put a hand to her face, trying to keep from sobbing. "We need _help!_ We need to contact _someone!_ Can you call Oracle?"

"No." Violet said weakly as she closed Kieko's staring eyes, trying hard not to look at the woman's lower body. "Communication is always instigated from her end. I have contact points where I can request communication, but they are all out there." She waved at a wall. "Cut off in here."

"I..." Brianna shook her head and the slain Voice was suddenly covered by an ornate golden sheet. Violent and Gee both bowed their heads. "She didn't go into the database. She must have asked not to. I don't blame her."

"Me neither." The Corpus soldier and the meat clad shade said in unison. They stared at each other and then at Brianna who looked at Abigail.

"Most of what is happening here is a violation of the Old Compact between Tenno and Orokin. Such desecration of the dead, enslavement of energy forms, misusing technology to do things like this... The thresholds are being pushed to the breaking points by his madness. At least he was smart enough not to do such to _Tenno_." Brianna said slowly. Gee nodded, her face somber. "That is what screwed Gillianahorisa."

"Indeed it did." Gee agreed.

" _They_ will likely react about as well to _this_ as _Iriana_ did to what happened to _Janna_." Brianna continued and both others winced. The Healer was kind, gentle soul most of the time, but she was true Tenno. Make her mad enough and you got hurt. Period. "I will tend Abigail." She promised Violet. "She will not die while in my care. I will do what I can."

"Can you undo it?" Violet asked.

"I don't know." Brianna admitted. "Hurting is so much easier than healing, but those parts are all reading as her genetic makeup, so... I don't know.."

" _How can_ **that** _be_ **her** _genetics?_ " Violet all but screamed as she waved at the midsection of Abigail's gown. It was rising.

"I would have thought such impossible, but every scan says it _is_ her genetic code in all of the organs. Kieko did not survive the attachment." Brianna said sadly as she laid a hand on Abigail's head. "Damn him." She focused her will and slowly, ever so slowly relaxed as Abigail's body did and her gown fell back to lie smooth. "I can dampen it, but I cannot stop what he did quickly. I may not be able to stop it at all. He wanted a pleasure toy. Bastard."

"She won't want to live like this." Violet said slowly.

"You don't know that. The woman we knew no longer exists, Violet. He didn't put in a new personality, so a new one will grow if allowed." Brianna retorted, her will seeping through Abigail's tortured form, soothing, easing. "Someone new. I will protect her. I may have fancy genes, but I have no _right_ to dictate her life to her. Nether do _you_."

She felt him before he appeared. A shield slammed into place between Stalker and the others before he finished materializing. The red and black sort-of warframe did not move from his kneeling posture. Wise of him as angry as Brianna was.

"You are not welcome here, Stalker." Brianna's tone promised pain. "Leave now or leave in _pieces_ , your choice." Gee recoiled from him, her face ashen.

"No." Gee pleaded. "Leave her alone!" Brianna looked at Gee and the shade slumped. "He heard my pleas to my origination. He taunted me before she died. He must have tracked me. I am sorry."

Stalker started to rise and froze in place as Brianna held up a hand that was _glowing_. Here in the heart of her tower? He had no chance against her and knew it. He slowly sank back to his knees and his hands slowly folded in front of him.

"By all means, rise." Brianna snapped. "Give me a _reason_ to rend you limb from limb! It won't destroy you, but it might make me feel a bit better."

"This a threshold breach." Stalker said slowly as he looked at Gee who shrank back to the wall and then at the still forms on the tables. "A breach of the most ancient compact."

"No shit." Violet actually snickered at Brianna's sour words. "Tell me something I _don't_ know, you lousy excuse for a lower guardian!" At that, _Stalker_ recoiled.

"You are Orokin. Highest caste." Stalker said slowly. "I do not know you. But you know me. Or of me. Have I given you offense?"

"My name is Alpha Brianna Executor. I was made into this against my will. The one doing so abused the sacred Red Vial." Brianna bit out through clenched teeth. "Before that? My name was Brianna. I worked with a doctor named _Amelia_ and _another_ named _Iriana_. I had a friend named _Sheila!_ " That was all but a shout and Stalker went totally still. "You tell _me_ , _**asshole!**_ **_Have you given me offense?_** "

That was a cold, hard _scream_ and golden energy was pouring off her in waves that roiled with her anger. _Everyone_ shied away from her except Stalker. The waves parted around Abigail's table.

"In that case? Yes, I have." Stalker said slowly. He slowly shook his head. "You have a right to your anger, Executor." He nodded to her, his posture formal. "Do you wish my life?"

"Like I can really do more than tear this copy to shreds?" Brianna snarled. "I want to. Oh, I _so_ want to. I can do it molecule by molecule and make it last for _days_. I think part of me would enjoy it. But no. Leave. I refuse to become _you_."

"That is good, but I cannot leave. This is a breach of the compact." Stalker said quietly. "Any right thinking Orokin or Tenno is duty bound to stop such."

"You really expect _me_ to say _you_ are 'right thinking'?" Brianna scoffed. "What do you _want?_ " She demanded. "I will not fight Tenno for you. With you, for you, whatever. Begone."

"You cannot face..."

Everything stopped as a scream came from the far table. _Everyone_ went still as a transparent gray form shimmered into being standing in the middle of the slain woman. The shade had Keiko's face and said face held nothing but terror.

"No." Gee said weakly even as Violet murmured the same. Even _Stalker_ seemed shocked.

Before anyone else could move, Brianna was beside the table. She reached out and carefully took hold of the shade's hands, pulling Keiko close. The shade stared at her along with everyone else as Brianna drew the now crying woman into a hug, her form made substantial enough by the tower for Brianna to offer comfort.

"What has been done here is corruption, desecration and heresy of the vilest sort." Brianna said as the shade of the slain Clergywoman cried. "He killed you and meant to enslave you. I refuse to do so." The woman made an inarticulate noise and Brianna sighed. "Here, a basic information packet will let you communicate even with your mind wiped."

Something that flashed golden passed between the women and the shade relaxed a little. When she spoke again, it was clear, if scared.

"Who are you?" The woman begged. "Where am I? I don't remember anything."

"I know. My name is Brianna. Yours is Kieko." Brianna rocked the woman gently in her arms. "An evil man wiped your memory and then..." She bowed her head. "He killed you. He made you into this. This parody of a human being." The shade stared down at herself and then at the golden shrouded form she had stepped out of. She shook her head slowly.

"I feel weird." Keiko's shade said slowly. "I... I need something but I don't know what."

"You need your mother." Stalker said softly and Brianna glared at him. "They _all_ need their mother. The base code is needed to stabilize them, Executor."

"And _how_ do you know this?" Brianna asked in a dangerous voice.

"Because I saw Kat taken by the madman once." Stalker said very quietly. "I went after her, thinking I could use her. I saw two gray shades spawn from her in her captivity, but she fled before I could approach. I took the two and they both faded to nothing in my care despite all of my tricks. I am not a good being, but that? No. That is wrong. As you say, blasphemy and heresy. The Orokin knew better than to do such. The one who did it did not. Any shades formed this way will fail without the progenitor's code, Executor."

"So, Kat has to _die_ for them to live?" Brianna demanded.

"Kat begs for death, for release. And… Are _any_ of them _alive?_ " Stalker asked and then he hit the wall with a thump as Brianna made a tossing gesture.

"Are _you?_ " Brianna held up a glowing hand again and he did not move from where he slumped. Again, wise.

"Point taken, Executor." Stalker said with a sigh. "This is all a violation of the compact, Executor. You know what must be done."

"No. I refuse to let the Guardians simply 'erase' the problem. I will not let them destroy all of the shades. There are _innocents_ here." Brianna's tone was final. She would die first and everyone knew it. Stalker slowly rose and then bowed to her. A full, formal kowtow. Not subservient in the slightest, an offer of respect.

"Then no matter how you were made, you are True Orokin." Stalker said formally as he rose and crossed his arms over his chest, hands to his shoulders. "You know duty. But you cannot help them. Perhaps the Guardians can."

"Or they will simply destroy them all." Brianna shook her head. "Not an option."

"Nikis likely would. He has little patience for many things and has seen far more evil than either of us can contemplate. I do not like him, but few can gainsay his experience." Stalker did not move, and his tone was thoughtful. "Other Guardians may or may not. I know that if I were to search them out, they would not react well."

"I wonder _why?_ " Brianna put enough snark in her tone that Violet snickered again. "So, you cannot aid."

"I did not say that." Stalker corrected her grimly. "I might be able to deliver a message in the very short time it takes them to summon power and obliterate my copies, and for this? My pain is immaterial. Such a breach must not be allowed to fester. That said, they do not advertise themselves. I have no idea where to find a Guardian of the Dead."

Brianna paused and then smiled grimly, still hugging the sobbing Kieko. She remembered Martin talking to Nikis back when Kat had first shown herself.

"I might."


	14. Chapter 14

**Messages**

Deep space

It was very quiet in the small Xiphos class Tenno landing craft. Martin stood at the sensor console as Hawk stood near one wall, her holographic form still as only a technological form could be. Nothing natural or not intensely trained for a very long time could manage such stillness.

Neither spoke. There wasn't really anything to say. Both knew that they had transgressed, how and why. As punishments went, this nowhere even remotely close to as bad as Nikis _could_ have done to them. Both were still alive.

Martin turned as a console behind Hawk beeped. The insubstantial Tenno was not normally capable of operating controls, but with Martin's help, she was learning. Deft telekinesis pushed buttons and flipped switches without damaging anything. Scorch marks showed where she hadn't always been so controlled.

"This odd." Hawk said slowly. "I am reading something new in Sector Three A." Martin looked at her and the question was writ large in his posture. "Near the wreck of the Zeplen. We scanned that area."

There was a _lot_ of Grineer debris in this area. The Fomorian was mostly dust, but the rest of the Grineer fleet had been savaged. No less than _five_ Galleons had been blown completely to pieces along with innumerable smaller craft. Tenno Aziz's assault on the Grineer supership had been spectacular to say the least. There was lot of mess and it was drifting in the solar winds every which way. It _would_ take years to search the debris field.

"We better do it again." The Harrow clad Tenno said firmly. "We do not want Nikis any angrier with us than he already is."

"No." Hawk slumped a bit. "I … I apologize. I..."

"Hawk, how many times must you apologize?" Martin asked, his tone quiet as he ordered the ship to fly that way. "Yes, what you did was wrong. Yes, we both got in trouble for it. You didn't know what you were doing."

"Ignorance is no excuse." Hawk gave herself a shake. "I thought I knew what I was doing. I had no idea I was breaching the..." Her voice trailed off and Martin spun to stare at her, but her eyes were on the console. "What the _hell?_ "

"Hawk?" Martin moved to stand near her, but did not crowd her. One did _not_ get too close to one of the Zarimon children even holographic unless one liked high energy burns. Nikis picking up and _hugging_ Falcon had been a _hell_ of a shock to all _kinds_ of people.

"Um… You need to see this." Hawk moved to the side and let the Harrow move to the console.

For a moment, he saw nothing and then a small, white object drifted into view on the screen. He stared at it. It was a… Yeah. What the _hell_ was that? It looked kind of like an old style human aircraft, but not quite. It was definitely atmospheric, since it had one wing, set on the bottom of the fuselage that extended almost from the nose all the way to the back of it. A tall vertical stabilizer. _Two rocket engine nozzles_ on the back. A plague on one side marked 'Ranger 3'.

The Xiphos was now close enough for the object to be shadowed and it was _tiny_. Maybe a fifth the size of the landing craft. Barely larger than a human or Tenno. Whatever the hell it was, it was glowing softly. Silvery energy of some kind was being sucked into it. But the glow was so soft that anyone more than a few kilometers away would see nothing and human visible light was the only spectrum radiating.

"I am doing a data search." Hawk said weakly as she fiddled with controls telekinetically. "Can you sense anything?"

"Some." Martin said after a moment. "Can you?" Hawk looked at him and he shook his head. "Hawk, your senses are good. Don't doubt them. What you did was dumb, no question. _How_ you did was ingenious." She stared at him and he nodded. "If we survive Nikis' wrath, I might just ask to take you as an apprentice." At that, she gaped and he chuckled. "Hawk, you have the skill, the power and the senses to be a Guardian. Now, you just need to learn the rules. _That_ will take a while." He warned dryly.

"Would Nikis even agree?" Hawk asked weakly. "I messed up."

"So did I. Way back when." Martin said quietly. "Not quite the same way, but none of us are the same, Hawk. None of us are getting any younger. There were never very many of us but we always enforced the Compact."

"I… I heard some about that when Iriana..." Hawk swallowed hard. "When Janna came to the clan. She was a mess."

"Yeah." Martin bowed his head. "Girl has guts. I am glad they stopped her from leaving. Heaven only knows what trouble she would have gotten into." Hawk nodded emphatically. "We both want to be out and about helping find Brianna. But Nikis is very angry. He has cause. The very _first_ rule of the Guardians of the Dead is simple..." He broke off as Hawk coughed.

"Do not anger Nikis." The Zarimon child said quietly and Martin nodded.

"Bingo." The Guardian singsonged that. "We did. We will pay for it. Grandmaster Nikis is an asshole. He is scary, crazy, dangerous, all of that. But he is _also_ the eldest of us all. He has seen and done stuff that would likely kill either us simply to look at. He tries to be fair, but… Hawk..." He shrugged.

"I know." The girl replied. " _Life_ isn't fair. You really think I could do it? I mean? Even as I am?"

"After what you did to the Queens? Oh, hell yes." Martin nodded as she flinched. "You bear scars from that and you will. Such things are not to be faced lightly, girl. Running in there alone was dumb." There was no censure in his tone. Respect and a bit of awe, but no condemnation.

"Yes, it was. The trap was for me or one of my kin. They wanted me." Hawk said quietly. "They wanted to take over my warframe. They thought they could swap places with me. Leave my mind in a crumbling, decaying shell and theirs in my own form. Falcon… She couldn't have stopped them even _with_ Teshin's help. They would have taken her."

"They could have." Martin was gentle now. "Such things were wrong even under Orokin, considered heretical or blasphemous because they threatened the thresholds between the living and the dead, but some didn't care. High Caste in particular always pushed the boundaries. But there were limits. When _they_ were passed, _we_ acted."

"There will always be those who try to do such things." Hawk said slowly. Martin nodded. "So, there must always be Guardians."

"Yes, and I think you would make a good one." Martin had smile in his voice now. "What do you sense?"

"I am not sure." Hawk looked at the screen, but her eyes were far away. "Fear? Rage? Determination? But it is not Tenno energy. Is it?" She asked, confused.

"It _is_." Martin mused as he too scrutinized the readouts. "But no mind behind it. I don't..." He shook his head. "This isn't Tenno Aziz. I met him and this isn't him. His feel was distinctive." He sighed. "It is weird, whatever the hell it is, so we better mark it. Maybe ask Nikis to check it out when he calms down."

He did just that, marked the small object with a tracker that only Tenno ships would be able to detect. Otherwise, such a small cold object in deep space would be next to impossible to find again.

" _If_ he calms down." Hawk shuddered and Martin shared it. "Kat hasn't left the Clergy colony?"

"He will notify all the Guardians if she does." Martin slumped a bit. "That ancient shame eats at him. He wasn't there when Katherine died. From what I understand, he hadn't even been _born_ yet. I don't know all of the particulars, but he won't let _anyone_ else chase her. He won't delegate what has to be done. Won't make us lock her up. Like I say, he tries to be fair."

" _Most_ of the time." Hawk snickered and Martin nodded.

"True." The console dinged and both turned to look at data scrolling across the screen.

" _A space shuttle?_ " They chorused. They stared at one another and as one, sighed.

"Life is strange." Hawk complained.

"Oh, having a toy sized ancient human ground-to-orbit vehicle out here in the middle of a Grineer debris field is nowhere _close_ to the weirdest thing I have seen." Martin laughed at Hawk's expression. "If you _do_ become an apprentice? You will see far, _far_ stranger stuff. Better get used to it."

Before Hawk could reply a flash of gold erupted in middle of the ship. Both spun, Hawk's hands glowing with fell energies and Martin drawing a pistol, but what they saw…

A small golden object sat on the deck near the navigation console. It wasn't a weapon. It wasn't a bomb. It was made of some kind of clear material. It had a long neck that was capped by something that looked _wooden_. There was something white inside it the golden part. Martin stared at it and hissed.

"Someone out there has a really _sick_ sense of humor." The Guardian said slowly. "And how the hell did they teleport this _here?"_

"Orokin?" Hawk did not relax any more than Martin did. "Like whoever took Brianna?"

"Must have been to find us and teleport this so cleanly to a ship camouflaged by Void shields." Martin said slowly. "But that? _A message in a bottle?_ " he demanded. " _Who the hell?_ "

"A trap?" Hawk asked softly. Martin shrugged and Hawk sighed. "You may be vulnerable. I am not."

"You know better than that." Martin snapped. "The Queens hurt you. There are all kinds of things that can hurt energy forms like you and me out there. You haven't seen them, but they exist. They are rare, but they _do_ exist. Some even like to set traps."

Both went still as a new voice spoke up. From the bottle!

"This is not a trap." A female voice sounded from the bottle. "Please do not destroy the link. It cost a great deal of power to send that and I do not know if I can do do so again."

"Who are you?" Martin's word were pure 'Angry Guardian'.

"I should not say. I know not if this transmission can be intercepted or tracked. I require a Guardian of the Dead." At that, both of the occupants of the ship stiffened.

"Why?" Martin was not happy with this, not at all. His free hand was glowing with sickly looking blue energy.

"I know this went to a Tenno ship. Whoever this is..." The woman wasn't quite begging. Close, but not quite. "Please, send this message to the closest Guardian. There is a Class One Threshold Breach at my location." Martin went totally still at that and Hawk stared at him, but he waved at her and she remained silent. "There are innocents here. The guilty has fled, but we fear he will return, possibly with forces beyond our ability to resist. The protocols are clear. Coordinates are on the paper inside the bottle. We need a Guardian. Preferably _not_ Grandmaster Nikis."

"Can't blame you for that." Hawk muttered and Martin shook his head but he seemed amused. "How did you find this ship?" She demanded.

"Easy." The woman had smile in her voice. "I was there when Nikis picked up Falcon."

The bottle stopped flashing and the golden glow faded. Both of the mismatched being stared at one other and then jerked as a 'crack' sounded and the bottle split in two. A small white thing fluttered down from the halves of the bottle. It showed numbers but neither moved to touch it.

"There is only _one_ person who was there who is unaccounted for." Hawk said slowly. "So, they have Brianna and scanned her mind, stole her memories or worse. This _has_ to be a trap."

"This is odd." Martin slowly shook his head. "That protocol is ancient. 'A message in a bottle'." He mused. Then he chuckled. "That _is_ actually listed as one of the official means of contacting Guardians of the Dead. I always thought that was supposed to be a joke." He clarified when Hawk looked confused. Then he shook his head. "Be silent unless he asks you something." He commanded as he stepped to another console and tapped it. When he spoke, it was formal. "Grandmaster."

" _What?_ " Nikis' irate voice came through loud and clear.

"We have found an oddity here in the debris field." Martin said softly. "No sign of Aziz's energy, just the one odd thing."

"If you contacted me for _that_..." Nikis snarled and then he sighed, calming a bit. "No. You know better than that. What?"

"I just had a golden bottle appear in my ship with a message in it." Martin and Hawk both stared at each other as Nikis made an odd, almost choked noise. Was that a laugh? A sigh? A groan? Hard to tell and _neither_ would inquire. "A voice neither of us knew spoke from it, asked for a Guardian. She said and I quote 'a Class One Threshold Breach at this location.'"

" _Class One?_ Oh _fuck_." Nikis sounded stunned. "I… Damn. I can't leave Kat."

"This may be a trap."Martin allowed. "Only an Orokin could have teleported such a thing to a Tenno ship in full stealth."

"An Orokin like the one who took Brianna right out of the dojo even after the shields snapped on full when the alarms all went off." Nikis growled.

"Exactly." Martin agreed. "Requesting permission to investigate."

"Yeah. That is the job. If it _is_ a Class One, you may need backup." Nikis sighed. "Call if you do. Kat… I don't think she is leaving."

"I thought she couldn't stay anywhere." Martin asked, confused. "That the wolf in her mind wouldn't let her rest in one place for long."

"So did I." Nikis sounded disgusted. "I wonder how many _other_ little things our ancestors 'forgot to mention' about this mess. You mark the weird thing?" Martin made noise of agreement and Nikis' tone changed to formal. "Your punishment is in abeyance, not annulled. Check it out and be _careful_."

"Understood. Uh… I have a request." Martin started and broke off as Nikis chuckled.

"Wondered when you would get off your ass. If she agrees? Yes." The com clicked off and Martin stared at it. Hawk, for her part, stared at _him_.

"Did he just... um…?" Hawk swallowed. Martin nodded and she gasped. "How did he _know?_ Oracle?"

"I doubt it. Like I said, Nikis is the eldest of us. The rest of us are mere children compared to him." Martin shook his head as he bent down to examine the paper. And yes, it was _real honest to go_ _odness_ _wood pulp paper!_ "Damn. Someone _really_ wants to make sure _every_ protocol is followed."

"That is not good, is it?" Hawk asked softly as Martin moved to the navigation console to input the coordinates.

"In my experience, no." Martin was just as worried. "The only time someone Orokin followed the rules _this_ closely? Someone _else_ had seriously messed up and they didn't want the collateral damage to splash all over everything in the area. Hence why they asked for Nikis not to come. Hardly the _first_ time I have heard such. But not for a Class One. This is not going to be fun."

"And Nikis just gave you permission to train me as a Guardian." Hawk slowly straightened as Martin nodded. "I don't know if I can do the job, but it needs doing. Command me, Guardian."

"First rule: Don't anger Nikis." Martin said flatly as the ship's engines pulsed. " _Second_ rule: If I tell you to run, you _run_. In that case, go get Nikis. He will likely yell at you and he may hurt you, but as long you obeyed orders, he won't _kill_ you. There are a _lot_ of things out here that _can_. Even people like you and me. I know most of them, not all."

"We are going to face some, aren't we?" Hawk asked quietly.

"Class One means that shades are dying." Martin explained, his voice grim. Hawk stiffened and her face was sick. "So, probably."

"Do we need to tell anyone else?" Hawk asked, fighting for control. She succeeded, her face blanking. "If whoever that was is affiliated with the ones who took Brianna, the clan will want to know."

"Yes, they will. Let's check it out before we call it in. I will send an alert to the other Guardians, warning them we may need backup. Others? We may send warnings, if just to warn them to avoid somewhere for a few thousand years." Martin shook his head as the small object they had found receded on their screen. "There are things that regular Tenno, for all their skill and bravery, simply cannot fight. For that? They have us. Will you hear my teaching?"

"I listen." Hawk knelt and nodded as Martin knelt at the navigation screen.

Neither of them paid any attention to the tiny ship behind them. Neither of them had been able to see inside the small windows on it, they had been frosted over. If they had? They would have seen a tiny mostly transparent Hydroid warframe that was slowly, ever so slowly, reforming as the energy that the compact ship was collecting reformed it. As dispersed as the energy was? It would take quite some time.

Probably about 500 years.

* * *

Mars

2 hours later

The unadorned Harrow warframe moved through the silent halls, a deadly blue ghost. The Nyx warframe that strode beside him was likewise unadorned. Both Tenno held weapons ready. The Harrow had a Pyrana shotgun pistol in one hand and a Kestrel boomerang in the other. The Nyx hefted a Stradavar rifle but had other weapons attached to hardpoints.

Both came to a sudden halt as a familiar voice sounded. The voice that had spoken from the bottle. A female form stepped into view. Tall, thin, long arms, golden skin. High caste Orokin. She seemed unarmed but only a _fool_ considered any high caste Orokin to be 'safe' to be around. _Especially_ in the middle of a functional tower.

"Martin, Hawk. Oh, thank god you got the message!" The female Orokin had been crying. She did not move. Both Tenno were aiming at her. "My life is forfeit, but please do not fire until I explain. There are _many_ lives at stake here. Hundreds. I am not the one who invaded the dojo that belongs to the Tenno clan called 'Karl's Shadow'."

The Harrow did not move but the Nyx… A angry form stepped out of the Nyx warframe, the energy Tenno's face thunderous. The Harrow shook his head slightly, but did not interfere.

"And why should we trust _anything_ you say, _Orokin?_ " Hawk demanded. "What have you done to Brianna? If you know us, you stole the information from her. That is what your kind do! Take!"

"Ask Falcon, Hawk." The Orokin woman nodded a bit sadly. "She can identify me." She stilled as Hawk's form flashed. The girl was furious! "Please?"

"So, I put my _sister_ at risk for this?" Hawk snapped, but her form solidified as she reined in her anger. "This... Whatever Orokin madness you scum have spawned _this_ time?"

"I did not do this. Falcon will not be at risk here." The Orokin woman said firmly. "I swear it. Enough evil has already been done here. To me, to so many others, both corporeal and energy. No more will happen here while I rule here and I _do_."

"Who are you?" Hawk all but screamed that, but then she went still as another holographic form appeared next to her. Her sister! "Falcon! No!"

"I was listening." The scared, almost timid face of the healer of the Zarimon children was stunned as the Orokin woman smiled at her. It was gentle that smile, soothing. Familiar?

"Falcon! Leave!" Hawk commanded, but the smaller energy Tenno shook her head. "You are in danger!"

"No, she is _not_. Not from me or mine." The Orokin retorted, but then her face softened and her voice gentled. "I only ask one thing: Falcon? Do you still have the dream-catcher and does it still help?" Falcon stared at the Orokin, her face closed as the woman smiled at her again. "I hope your dreams have been better."

"Leave her alone-" Hawk started, but paused when Falcon laid a hand on her arm. "Falcon, you need to _leave!_ "

"I am needed here." Falcon said quietly but then _she_ smiled.

"Yes, my dreams have been better since I hung your gift over my bed, Brianna."


	15. Chapter 15

**Unlikely and likely**

"Another Orokin lie! Falcon! Stop!" Hawk snapped as Falcon took a step forward.

"There is a way to be sure." Falcon did not take her eyes from the golden woman. "But it will hurt."

"I know. It cannot hurt as badly as being made into this did." The Orokin said with a growl. She slowly sank to her knees. "I am ready."

"I am not." Falcon said weakly. Hawk stared at her and then at the Harrow shrugged. "I am afraid."

"Yes." The golden skinned woman said softly. "I know the feeling. For so long, the golden skinned monsters haunted my dreams too. Now I _am_ one. That ancient thing helped me. I hoped it would help you."

"It did." Falcon smiled and nodded.

"What?" Hawk demanded as Falcon took another slow step. "Falcon, this has to be a trick!"

"Why would _Orokin_ scan Brianna's mind to find out about a tiny little toy that she gave to a crying girl who had horrible nightmares?" Falcon demanded, her usual timid nature fading as she focused her will. "They don't care about such things, Hawk. You know they don't."

"This is another Orokin trick!" Hawk all but snarled that.

"Is it?" Falcon asked as the Orokin held out her right hand to the insubstantial Tenno. "You know how badly this will hurt her and she is not just allowing it, she is all but begging for it. How many Orokin in _your_ experience would do such a thing, Hawk?" She asked reasonably as she slowly reached out to the Orokin woman.

" _Any_ to take control of us!" Hawk snapped, trying to bat Falcon's hand away, but her hand passed right through Falcon's. The Orokin withdrew her hand and Falcon started at her, confused as the golden woman shook her head.

"That is a very good point." The Orokin said slowly. "Tenno Martin? If Tenno Falcon alters her behavior in _any_ way, gun me down and make sure I _stay_ dead." All three Tenno stared at her and she shook her head. "Everyone here says I am not controlled. That he couldn't put controls in me. But I cannot be sure."

"Who?" Falcon asked as she took another step.

"His name is Lorinos Executor." The Orokin nodded as both incorporeal Tenno hissed. "Once he was on the Council of Executors, but the last list of those I saw said that he wasn't. And what he has done here is _why_."

"Lorinos?" Falcon asked, her face stunned. "Brianna screamed his name when _she_ had a nightmare. She fell asleep..."

"And woke you with her thrashing when _you_ needed sleep far more than _she_ did after the last thing Iriana tried to help you in the flesh." The Orokin sighed. "I am sorry. I know this will hurt you psychologically, but I need the help and your sister needs the confirmation." She held out her left hand to Falcon who stared at it. "Do it."

"I don't want to, Brianna." Falcon said weakly.

"Well, I don't want it _either_ , but we all know that life doesn't care what we _want_." The Orokin woman slumped a bit. "If it did? This whole mess wouldn't be happening. Hurry up and do it, Falcon. Before I lose my nerve."

"I will be quick." The girl promised as she took hold of the extended golden gloved hand. Said hand immediately started to smoke.

"Take your time." The Orokin woman gasped and then her face blanked. "I can shut off the nerve endings. Take your time. Do it right."

"I am not going to burn you _hand_ off!" Falcon snapped as her mind swept deep into the golden body in front of her.

"Do it _right!_ " The golden woman snarled right back. "I don't want to do this _again!_ "

For a long moment, nothing seemed to happen except more and more smoke came from the two joined hands. The stench of burnt meat became overpowering. Then Falcon screamed.

" _NO!_ " Falcon dropped the smoking golden hand as if the appendage was scalding the Zarimon child instead of the other way around. Then she retreated, her face a mask of fear, pain and rage. Then horror eclipsed it all. "Brianna, oh god, Brianna! Let me help!" She begged as Brianna curled her blackened, ruined hand in her other, clutching both to her chest protectively.

"Stay… stay where you are." Brianna gasped. "Reassure your… your sister… I am okay. I am okay. I will regenerate in a bit." She hissed as she moved her hand a little. "Ah, well, _quite_ a bit." Golden energy seeped from the floor to surround her and her face eased. "Ouch." She looked away from her hand and it was suddenly encased in a golden bandage. Her face resumed its mask of calm. "That was very unpleasant."

"It is her, Hawk. Oh, my god! _It is her! I_ am sorry!" Falcon pleaded. "Brianna! I am _so sorry!_ "

"What have I _told_ you about that? _I_ did that! Stop fracking apologizing for things you _didn't do!_ " Brianna snapped and then scowled as Hawk laughed sourly.

"Good luck with _that_." The angry ageless child shook her head. "Okay. I believe. Only _Medic_ _Brianna_ could be _stupid_ enough to hold Falcon's hand that long."

"I have full access to the Tower, Tenno Hawk." Brianna said softly. "I will heal in time. _If_ I am given time." She looked at Martin who hadn't moved. "He used the Red Vial on me, Tenno Martin. Mixed with other things. Horrible blasphemous things. My life is almost certainly forfeit."

"He _what?_ " Hawk asked, stunned.

"He remade her as a perfect example of Orokin." Her sister was all but crying. "I saw what he did in her mind. I… I want to help, Brianna, but I don't know how." Falcon moved to stand closer to Brianna who smiled at her.

"You can't, Falcon." Brianna said quietly. "My fate is sealed. Maybe the Guardian can help the shades here, maybe he can't. But _my_ life ended when that scum dipped me in the kuva. This..." She nodded to her bandaged hand. "This is nothing. Violet is here and _she_ needs you right now, Falcon."

"What is _Violet_ doing here?" Hawk and Falcon chorused.

"Praying and trying hard not to kill our _other_ ally."

* * *

Ten fairly tense minutes later

"He is dead." Hawk was muttering to herself as she paced her warframe near one wall. Everyone gave her space. "Whatever that Orokin scum may _think_ he is doing, he is _dead!_ This will _not_ stand!"

Falcon had gone into the room where Violet was tending Abigail and Kieko. She had come out retching. When Hawk had asked why, Falcon had answered her and the insubstantial Tenno girls were suddenly in _total_ agreement for what was likely the first time in their _entire_ existence. Falcon had gone back and in and Hawk had started to rant.

"Hawk." Brianna said quietly from where she stood surrounded by small gray forms. "Please calm down. You are frightening my retainers."

Hawk stared at the small gray forms and then at the golden woman before nodding. She did not lower her rifle and she continued to pace. Brianna did not blame her. Stalker hadn't moved from where he had stood since Martin and Hawk had entered. Seeing as how Martin's very first act had been to throw sickly looking blue energy around the red and black pseudo warframe? Not moving was probably the smartest thing he could do. Brianna didn't know what that energy would do, but it likely wouldn't tickle.

Martin had gone into the room with Falcon and he hadn't come out. Falcon had gone back in after taking a moment to collect herself. Surveillance feeds showed Martin and Falcon talking softly to Kieko while Violet sat beside Abigail's bed, still praying. Kieko's body was in cold storage. Maybe the Guardians could do something? Maybe not. For now Kieko was as calm as Brianna could make her and hopefully, it would be enough. Hopefully, Martin wouldn't decide to end everything here along with Brianna.

Her mind was whirling even as her hand itched. The tower was regenerating her injury, but it would take time. Time that-

Brianna went totally still as several of the forms who looked to her for protection vanished from her senses. A quick thought had all of the remaining shades withdrawing to a defensible position in the middle of the tower. She snarled soundlessly as more vanished. Just disappeared from her sight. Two, six, fifteen, thirty-one. Then a tiny, scared voice sounded in her mind.

 _Alpha!_ Gretchen was crying. _Red men-_ The shade of the tiny girl screamed in agony and her voice vanished.

Brianna looked at Stalker who still did not move. She slowly shook her head.

"What for?" She asked the Tenno boogeyman. Hawk jerked to a halt, staring from one to the other. "You cannot save them. So why take them? Disposable weapons? Spies? What?"

"I do not know what you mean." Stalker was good. She had to give him that.

"They are not leaving with my retainers." Brianna warned. At that, Hawk stopped her pacing. The insubstantial girl stared from the Orokin to the bogeyman and back. "This is your only chance. Surrender them now and I will let whoever you brought in here live."

"I do not know what you mean." The red and black armored form repeated.

"Maybe you don't. Why don't we find out?" Brianna inquired mildly. "Tenno Hawk, please warn the Guardian and your sister that I am about to make a mess. Tell them to remain with Abigail, Kieko and Violet for the moment." She raised her uninjured hand and Stalker tensed. "Oh, don't worry. Nothing will happen in here." She smiled grimly. "Unless of course, you have lied to me."

"Does he ever do anything else?" Hawk actually gulped as Brianna looked at her. Power was flowing around the Orokin now. Said power was not a patch on the level of power that the Zarimon children could wield, but _far_ more controlled and thus? Far more dangerous in some situations.

She could see everything, Every single speck of dust in the tower. Every single _red armored form_ that was moving through the tower, chasing her gray shade retainers and sucking them into electronic limbo whenever they caught them. Her eyes were flat as she directed the tower to take appropriate steps.

"I guess I am still naive in many ways." Brianna said quietly. "I actually thought he did care about such things like threshold breaches. The question is: How did you know?" She asked Stalker as golden energy seeped up from the floor to coat his warframe. He jerked and struggled, but it was clear he couldn't move. "How did you know about me? That I _did_ believe in Orokin, despite everything? Did you learn it from Sheila when you tortured her? From Amelia when you tortured _her?_ "

Her tone was mild, but Hawk actually backed up a step as the power that was flaring around Brianna suddenly shone bright. Then five red clad forms simply _appeared_ in the room, but… None of them were intact. All of Stalker's Acolytes had lost limbs. One had been cut in half! Another was missing a _head!_ All were still alive, held that way by golden power! Brianna shook her head and a red clad head appeared on the floor. It too, hummed with life. She made an 'up' gesture with her good hand and it rose until she could looked at the faceplate without bending. Gray forms were falling from each of the battered Acolytes. They gathered near one wall, eyeing the red remains with disgust and fear.

"I think this qualifies as a lie. Also an 'Oops'." The golden woman said to Stalker who was still struggling fruitlessly. "'Alas, Poor Yorick.' Or whatever the quote was. I don't remember the rest." Brianna said slowly to the floating head. "I know you won't talk to me, so..."

"Wait." Hawk warned as Brianna gathered her power. "If they knew what you would do, then _this_ was likely planned for to."

"Be silent, brat!" Stalker was struggling hard in his bonds now. With much of the tower systems focusing on holding him though? He wasn't getting out of that. "You do not know what you are doing!"

"Oh?" Hawk and Brianna chorused that. They looked at each other and then Brianna nodded.

"I _did_ wonder how he got here." Brianna mused. "Gee blames herself." Hawk looked furious but Brianna shook her head. "Whatever Gee has or has not done, she is not the same being as the one who hurt so many. She was enslaved here long, long ago. You and I are not judges. We may act as executioners if needed, but I am not a judge and neither are _you_." Hawk looked at the Orokin who had been a friend and then nodded. "If you or Falcon touch him, I bet he has plans for that too."

"He cannot hurt me as badly as the Queens did." Hawk retorted.

" _He_ can't no." Brianna said sharply. " _Hunhow?_ "

At that, Hawk went totally still and Brianna nodded. Stalker was the Sentient's tool. A sapient, rogue tool on many occasions, but still a tool for _the_ worst threat that Orokin had ever faced.

"If it knew what was going on here, it would have flooded this Tower with Sentient fighters by now." Brianna continued into the sudden stillness. "As powerful as I am, none of mine would survive that. So… Hunhow doesn't know." She slowly shook her head. "That leaves only _one_ other being who could have possibly let him in here. So… Mister Boogeyman..." Her tone was cold now as she glared at the struggling form. "What is Lorinos paying you to try and take me and mine?"

"I don't know what-" Stalker broke off with a grunt as the golden energy that surrounded him squeezed visibly.

"Hawk, please tell this being how I feel about lies." Brianna asked softly. Hawk stared at her, eyes huge. "Please?"

Hawk's grin was a bit strained when she nodded.

"I would tell her the truth." Hawk said softly. "You see, she is kind, gentle, and yes, naive in some ways. She _also_ has _no_ patience for people who lie to her. She is not a Warrior, or..." She paused and made a face that Brianna shared. "She _wasn't_ one."

"Still not." Brianna reassured Hawk. "At heart, I am still the doctor that Lorinos abused so long ago. Lorinos lied to me. He claimed he loved me and then sold me to Daniel. Anything he told _you_ will be a lie." She warned Stalker. "I try hard not to lie, because mind problems are my specialty and lies cause all kinds of mind problems. Hawk lied to me a few times in sessions."

"Once!" Hawk held up a finger. "Only _once_ intentionally!" Brianna just looked at her and Hawk wilted and folded her hand. "I… Okay… Twice." She said in a very small tone. Brianna smiled but Stalker scoffed.

"Do your worst, woman!" The slayer of Tenno snapped as he fought his bonds. He was apparently not expecting Hawk to recoil further because he stopped struggling for a moment to stare at her.

"Oh, you did _not_ just say that to a _mind healer!_ " Hawk's face held fear now. "You _idiot!_ You think _Tenno_ can hurt you? Oh, you have no idea how much pain she can inflict."

"I never actually hurt you, Hawk." Brianna had quiet reproof in her voice now.

"No, but the _illusion with all senses engaged_ of the _pit of_ _rabid_ _Kavat_ was fairly memorable!" Hawk relaxed a little as Brianna snickered. "Even if none of them actually bit me, dropping me in that was _evil_ , Brianna."

"You _did_ call me 'mindless bitch who wouldn't know pain if it bit her'." Brianna reminded the other in a mild tone. Hawk winced visibly. "I do know pain, both physical and mental."

"I did and you do." Hawk sighed. "I apologized. After." She swallowed hard. "Go on, man! Tell her! It will hurt _far_ less!" Stalker growled, obviously a rude negative. She threw up her hands. "I tried."

"Yes, you did." Brianna started to gather her will. "Please stand with my retainers, Hawk. I don't know if there will be leakage and I do not want to hurt you."

"Don't touch me." Hawk warned as she moved to stand in the crowd of gray forms who shied away a bit from her. "Um, I told the Guardian and he said 'Have at'." Brianna glanced at her and Hawk actually flushed. "Hey, I am trying this formal politeness stuff. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

"No, it often doesn't." Brianna said quietly she focused her power into a cone shaped lance that she held up aimed at Stalker. The blue energy faded, leaving only her golden power holding him in place. He wasn't going to break free. "Last chance. What is Lorinos paying you to take me and mine?"

Stalker's snarled epithet cut off as the lance sprang from her hand to stab into his helmet. An inarticulate sound of agony came from the red armored being as Brianna's lance tore into his mind. She had always been deft at seeking out mind problems to ease them, try to fix them. Here and now? She had the power to simply force her way past any defenses. Stalker tried to suicide and she denied it. He tried to hide information and she simply tore it from the recesses of his mind. None of it was germane and she dug deeper.

But then…

A red hologram appeared in between the bound red warframe and Brianna. The man wore no helmet, but his face… She _knew_ the face. It _wasn't_ Kat, Iriana's mate. But the face was the same. Some kind of recording. He spoke.

"Only a true Orokin can trigger this message. I do not trust the being who calls himself Lorinos Orokin. The being who came to me in my travels, interrupting my hunt." Stalker's main mind said quietly. "He claims many things. He claims to be a Councilman, to be ready to reform Orokin, all kinds of things. I do not believe him. He _does_ have proof that he has tried to do a horror. An unspeakable heretical horror. If you are seeing this message, Brianna Executor, then he _did_ succeed and you have my sympathy. I know what it is to be remade against my will. Such a travesty done to you will hurt Iriana as badly as anything I did to her. He claims to be able to protect Iriana. I don't believe that either."

" _Protect?_ " Brianna asked the still form in front of her but he did not move.

"Maybe you can help her, protect her?" Stalker was pleading! "Maybe you cannot. I beg of you, Brianna Executor, if you are free, please try to help Iriana. Protect her. Hunhow _knows_ about her. Hunhow _knows_ what Nikis did and it is coming for her. I will lay backup plans, but this? I cannot help her against Hunhow. Maybe you _can_."

"Iriana." Brianna hissed, but the recording cut off and the red armored form collapsed in its bonds, motionless. A quick check showed no life inside the warframe. All of the acolytes were dead as well. She stared around and Martin stood in the doorway, his posture grim. She looked at the Guardian and then she slumped. "This is neutral ground. Will Nikis accept that?"

"He hasn't told _anyone_ what he did for Iriana. I know she pushed herself too far, drained herself too much and perished. He brought her back. Beyond that? Nothing." Martin said quietly. "I can guess, but that is all it is. A guess. He knows things no one else does or _should_. He saved the Healer and that _is_ a good thing? This? We need to talk to lots of people. None of yours are in danger of fading at the moment, but I cannot help them. We need Kat's original code to help them."

"We need Kat here anyway. To end this one way or another." Brianna slowly shook her head. "I am sure the Tenno will insist on attending."

"And others." Hawk was subdued. She liked Iriana too. She knew how dangerous Hunhow was from personal experience. "She won't be happy."

" _Who?_ " Brianna asked sourly. "Kat? Oracle? Iriana? Rachel? Eliza? The Reverend Mother?"

Martin and Hawk looked at each other, shrugged helplessly and said the same thing.

"Yes."


	16. Chapter 16

**Leaving**

Neptune

"I… "

"I don't blame you for being upset, Kat. No one does." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "You are a great help here and I like to think we have helped you too." She smiled and Kat returned it a bit hesitantly. "He gave his word, Kat. That ancient curmudgeon doesn't break his word. He won't take you back."

"No." Kat said softly. "He doesn't."

For the first time in a very long time, Kat felt herself relax fully. The Reverend Mother stood as she had when she had come in to deliver the message. The kids still worked to clean up the various splatters of food that even now colored bits of the mess hall. The food fight had been _spectacular_ , over a hundred children had eventually been involved and food had gone _everywhere_. It had taken the Reverend Mother herself to restore order. Conner Z-6 looked at her as Kat shook her head. A glower had him focusing on cleaning up remnants of some kind of mash from crevices in the metal floor. Yes, bots could have done faster and more efficiently. This was good punishment. They _made_ the mess. They _would_ clean it up. Even three days later, there were _still_ spots of food in odd places.

"I don't want you to go, Kat." The Reverend Mother said very quietly. "I like you, the staff likes you, most of the kids love you. You _have_ been a great help to us. I mean, even Katerina isn't moping for the moment."

 _I heard that!_ Came a distant irritated mental grumble. Both woman, the corporeal one and the insubstantial one, shared a grin.

"I knew this was temporary. You cannot hide me here forever, Reverend Mother." Kat slumped a bit. She went still as a very small form rose from where she had been cleaning under a table with a very small brush. Her face was ashen. "Alina G-90. You need to get back to work."

"Please don't leave, Sister Kat!" Alina G-90 begged in a voice that matched her size. She was only six. "If you go away, people will get mean again!"

Several of the children winced as Kat growled. She shook her head. She and the Reverend Mother had settled on an appearance that mimicked Katerina's, down to the ancient looking habit that the bound shade wore. It didn't make her look remotely human when she got 'wolfy' as a few of the kids put it, but in bad light? She could pass for one and here no one was going to tell tales. Even the worst of the Clergy knew better than to cross the Reverend Mother.

"Pup, I don't think the ones who hurt you will do so again." Kat said with a fuller, deep throat-ed growl under her words. The glare she turned on Conner Z-6 had the boy redoubling his efforts. "But there are other pups out there. Ones who need me. You don't now."

"But we _do!_ " Alina G-90 begged. "Please don't _go_ , Sister Kat!" She was fighting to keep from crying. She couldn't touch Kat and for the first time in a long, _long_ time, Kat wanted to be alive, to be able to touch a flesh and blood form. To be able to comfort to girl who was fighting so hard not to cry. But she wasn't. She couldn't.

The Reverend Mother looked at the girl and then at Kat who slowly shook her head.

"Don't cry, Pup." Kat knelt down to stare Alina G-90 in the eyes. "Change is a fact of life, Alina G-90. For better or worse, things change. I need a change. I have been running so long, angry so long, hating so long, I forgot what it was to love." She was looking at Conner Z-6 as she finished and the boy flushed a bit, looking away. "You have all reminded me of the good _and_ bad that comes with love. I thank you for that. After my talks with Sister Katerina and the Reverend Mother, I remember my friends, my family, my loves again and even with all the hurt, it is worth it."

It had only been a couple of days, but oh my god what a difference those days made. The Reverend Mother never had great deal of time, but what she had, she gave unstintingly. Kat remembered a lot more now than she had ever thought to. Good, bad, indifferent, she _remembered_ being Katherine. Working with Tenno, fighting beside them, dying. She didn't remember it all, but what she had now? She cherished.

"But I don't want you to go!" Alina G-90 begged. She was trying to be brave so hard that it hurt to see, but _she_ had been so hurt when the Clergy had taken her in. Kat wasn't sure what had happened to the girl, just that it had been bad and cost her family their lives at the same time. Hence why she was in the orphanage.

"I know, but I have to." Kat said quietly. "I am not human anymore, Alina G-90. I have no future. You _do_."

"But..." Alina G-90 lost her battle and tears started falling. The Reverend Mother started forward, but came to sudden stop as Conner Z-6 rose and embraced the girl, pulling her close and holding her as she sobbed. He didn't do anything, he just held her as she cried.

"Maybe you have no future." The boy said softly. "But you do have a legacy. We will remember."

"You better." _That_ was pure Alpha wolf and Conner Z-6 gave Kat a nod.

"We will." Conner Z-6 promised. He nodded to her and the other children did as well, but _they_ remained on task.

Kat gave the boy a sharp nod, then turned and left the mess hall. She was fighting tears herself as the Reverend Mother joined her.

"That was harder than expected." Kat said softly. "This love thing is...hard." She said a bit lamely.

"Worth it though." The Reverend Mother reached out to take Kat's hand. She was the only person who could touch Kat here. "Thank you. You got through to the boys and that little witch Rana I-43." The Clergywoman shook her head. "I had despaired about her."

"It wasn't really her fault. She didn't understand. What you did for her was kind." Kat gave the Clergywoman's hand a squeeze. "I don't think anyone else would consider a mindwipe to be kind, but it was."

Considering what that poor girl had gone through before arriving at the orphanage? Yuck. Being kept as a pet for a high ranking Grineer had been rough. No one had blamed her for acting out, she was only nine, but she had gone too far and not been able to stop herself. Kat had stopped her in her tracks, sat her down and forced her to explain _why_ she had been hurting the younger kids. She hadn't seen anything wrong in being strong and taking from the weak. To her credit, when Rana I-43 _finally_ realized that she had been acting like a _Grineer_ , (with quite a bit of growling from Kat) she had broken down. She had _begged_ to forget and the Clergy, after some debate, had done just that. Made her forget. She had alienated almost everyone here, including the Reverend Mother, so she hadn't been able to stay. She had angered a lot of people. They wouldn't be able to treat whoever she became as a new person, they were only human. They knew that. She gone elsewhere and hopefully, she would find a home there to replace the one she had lost to a Grineer raid. Either way, it was out of the Clergy's hands and most of them had breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, the girl had been hurt, but she had been a pain in the butt.

"I know. It just burns me when I fail them. When I cannot help them. You _did_ help her. With your help, she may yet find a home which is more than any of us managed. None of us could get through. We will remember your unconventional techniques and we will use them if we have other problem children in the future." The Reverend Mother led Kat towards the portal building. "You are very good with the kids, Kat. I wish you could stay, but I know you cannot."

"The wolf in me is unhappy." Kat said after a moment. "She likes the kids. I mean, _I_ like the kids. But…" She trailed off helplessly.

"But they are not yours." The Reverend Mother nodded as they entered the portal facility. "Yours are in trouble."

"So you have said and Nikis wouldn't lie about such a thing. Not shades in danger. That is his job." Kat sighed as they approached the platform and yes, a familiar and terrifying pitch black Nekros was the only person in the building. "This feels wrong." Kat complained and set her heels.

"Wrong how? Wait." Nikis held up hand as the Reverend Mother tried to pull Kat forward when she balked. "Kat. I have wronged _you_. Many, many times. I have tried hard not to lie to you."

"I have been wrong to you, too." Kat said slowly. "You are just doing your job but..." She broke off when Nikis scoffed.

"That argument was old and tired before the First Tenno became Tenno." Nikis said sourly. "'Just following orders' or 'just doing the job' don't fly with me, girl. I am Tenno enough to admit when I have fucked up."

"Nikis! This is a Clergy facility!" Kat said, scandalized. " _Language!_ "

Nikis stared at her and then at the Reverend Mother who smirked. Then the ancient and scary Guardian laughed.

"Okay, now I _have_ heard everything. _Little Wolf_ trying to be _politically correct_. Oh dear, I needed that." Nikis was still chuckling as he bowed to Kat. "I offer formal apology to one I have wronged.'

"I accept the formal apology." Kat said quiet. "If you will accept mine for being a silly little bitch."

Whack!

Both the shade and the Guardian stared at the Reverend Mother as she retracted her free hand back from slapping Kat's free hand!

"Language, Kat." The Reverend Mother said so primly that Kat felt a laugh bubble up out of her. The shade and Guardian stared at her and then at one another. Then in unison, they chuckled and then bowed to the Reverend Mother.

"Yes, Ma'am." The two mismatched beings said in the exact same tone. The 'little kid trying hard to be innocent and failing miserably' tone. The Reverend Mother's face seemed stern, but _yes_ , the corners of her mouth _were_ trying to curl up.

"Wrong how, Kat?" Nikis asked. "You are the wronged party her and the closest thing any of us have to an expert on this whole messed up situation. Can you define what is wrong?"

"Not really." Kat said weakly. "I just..." She broke off and shrugged helplessly.

"Why were you so scared of Zephyr, Kat?" The Reverend Mother asked slowly. "We never covered that and it has been bothering me."

"I don't know." Kat said weakly. "She never did anything or said anything, but she scared me. Every time. I..." She shook her head. "Every time."

"How many times did Zephyr come to see you?" Nikis asked, intent.

"I..." Kat thought hard for a moment. "Three times. I saw her three times and she scared me… um.." She looked at the Reverend Mother and changed what she was going to say quickly. The Reverend Mother did not react, but Kat could tell she was amused. "... _badly_ all three times."

"Huh." Nikis paused and then shook his head. "I only know of two. Mag brought Zephyr back twice when she left." Both women winced at that and Nikis nodded. "Yeah, I doubt Mag was gentle about it. Zephyr considers you her mother according to Hayden."

"But, Zephyr is a warframe." Kat protested. "She was made, not born."

"Warframes blur the line between organic and technological." Nikis replied, still thinking hard. "That said, it didn't make a lot of sense to him or to me when he finally told me about this _a day ago_." That was sour. "Tempted to call Oracle, but I doubt she can or will answer."

"Kat?" The Reverend Mother asked. "Can you define the fear? Is it physical? Are you afraid she will hurt you?"

"No." Kat said slowly. "She won't hurt me. I lashed out at her once and she was..." She paused. "I can't… That memory is..."

"Stop." Nikis said firmly enough that Kat stared at him. "Where did you lash out at her? It wasn't at the Citadel." That was firm enough that both women stared at him again. "I looked over all the records when I finally got access. Rachel is _not_ happy about this. Almost as unhappy as I am."

"I..." Kat shook her head. "I can't remember." She blanched. "Did the Tenno wipe my memories?'

"Nyx is the only one of the ones who knew what happened who could have and _she_ didn't do it. Someone else might have, but sloppy for you to remember _anything_." Nikis growled. The Reverend Mother nodded slowly. "So… another player."

"Not this Prince Robert character?" The Reverend Mother and Nikis both went still as Kat screamed.

" _NO!_ "

Kat backed up, but the Reverend Mother was there, holding her gently. Not enough to hold her if she tried to flee, but enough to comfort, to ease. Kat stared at her and then broke down, crying.

"What the hell?" The Reverend Mother asked as Kat cried in her arms.

"She was abused." A tiny voice had all three staring at the entry. Alina G-90 stood there, her face ashen. "I wanted to say goodbye. I didn't mean to be bad." Kat tried to protest as Nikis stepped towards the girl, but instead of anything hurtful, he slowly knelt to look at her. "You are scary." The girl said in a very small voice.

"I know. It is the job. Doesn't make it right to scare little girls who haven't been but so bad." Nikis said in a quiet and gentle voice. He held out hand that the girl stared at. "I ain't gonna hurt you, girl. What is your name?"

"Alina G-90." The tyke stared at the warframe and then at the Reverend Mother whose face was almost as pale as hers.

"You been through bad stuff to be here." Nikis took the girl's hand in his own and nothing more happened. She relaxed a little. "I don't like these people or trust them all the time, but they will help you."

"They are nice." Alina G-90 said weakly. "Sister Kat is really nice. _I don't want her to leave!_ " She begged.

"She doesn't want to either, honey." Nikis sighed. "But she has to. We need to figure this out. If she was abused, then a whole lot of people are going to come down hard on whoever did it."

"Like the Corpus did on the pirates who killed my parents and took me." Alina G-90 said softly. Nikis nodded. "Good. Will I remember this?"

"Not me." Nikis actually sounded sad. "No one is supposed to know I am here."

"Will it hurt?" The girl asked.

"No, honey." Nikis promised. "You will go to sleep and wake up in your bed. You might have bad dreams, but they are good with such here."

"They are." Alina G-90 said and then nodded. "I need to do something." Nikis rose and walked with her as she stepped forward. She stepped to where Kat stood, staring at her. "Um..."

"I got ya, girl. Go ahead." Nikis took hold her gently and lifted her so she could reach Kat. She stared at the female shade and Nikis chuckled. "Go on girl. This time only it is allowed."

Before Kat could react, Alina G-90 had kissed the shade's cheek. Kat stared at the girl whose eyes shone with unshed tears.

"I don't want you to go, Sister Kat." Alina G-90 said weakly. "You are brave and strong and all the things I wish I was. But someone hurt you and your pack needs you. Go be the wolf your pack needs, but know that you have people who love you here." She looked at Nikis. "I am ready to go to sleep now, Mr Tenno Sir."

"Good girl." Nikis hefted the girl as orange energy coated her and she fell asleep. The Reverend Mother released Kat who stood as if frozen and took Alina G-90 from the Nekros.

"Take Kat." The clergywoman said quietly. "I will be along as soon as I get Alina G-90 situated."

"You are coming?" Kat asked weakly.

" _Everyone_ is coming, Kat." Nikis warned. "Everyone is angry but not with _you_."

"I..." Kat reached out with a slow hand and then paused. Nikis nodded and she slowly stroked the sleeping child's cheek. She smiled as the girl murmured in her sleep. It sounded happy. Or least content. "This feels wrong." She complained.

"There is nothing right about what happened to you." Nikis agreed as the Reverend Mother strode away. "You are scared of that name. I bet he did something and Orokin had the tech to wipe memories."

"How many shades?" Kat asked.

"'bout four hundred." Nikis replied. "Some in badly made meat shells and that in and of itself would get a _lot_ of people riled, but the _rest_ of it?"

"I am scared of that name and of Zephyr." Kat said weakly. "As scared as I am of your or worse."

"Then we need to find out why." Nikis held out a hand to her. "I will keep you safe."

"If you can't, who _can?_ " Kat quipped weakly and took his hand. They strode to the golden portal and it activated.

Something was wrong!

Kat felt Nikis' hand pulled from hers and then she was lying on a cold hard _golden_ floor. Cold? She was in _flesh!_

"Well, here we are at last." A familiar voice spoke up from nearby and she fought to keep from recoiling. She didn't know the man, but she _did_. She tried to move, to flee, to fight. She couldn't!

Then her world lit up gold and an irate female voice sounded as two golden legs strode to stand between her and her tormentor.

"Haven't you done _enough_ , Lorinos?" The Orokin female snapped. "You are _dead_ , you know that? Really, trying to snatch someone in my tower was rude and foolish. _Almost_ as foolish as angering Nikis."

"Not as foolish as you appearing here." The other replied in an even voice. "Anatoly? Get Kat to Zephyr! Now. This one and I need to discuss _rank_." Golden power was building all around.

Kat couldn't even scream as golden energy swept her up and held her immobile in a whirling funnel cloud. She landed on… On grassy soil? She stared up at a blue sky and at the sun. Earth. She was on Earth! Still in meat but… She was…

" _Mother!_ " A form straight out of nightmare landed in front of Kat and she could do nothing as Zephyr stared at her. "What has he done to you _now_ _?_ "

Was the warframe _crying?_


	17. Chapter 17

**D** **aughters**

"Mother!"

Warm arms that felt odd were holding Kat as she lay, unable to move. "No! _No._ It wasn't supposed to be like this!"

Why was Kat not scared now? She should be. Clad in a meat form, paralyzed, sent god knows where to to do god knew what by a madman, she should be terrified. She wasn't. Energy was covering her now, it felt so familiar and so…

A flash of golden, orange energy and familiar black boots appeared in Kat's vision.

"Zephyr! Stop!" Nikis! But… not angry? Afraid? What the hell could _scare_ the _Grandmaster of the Dead?_

" _LEAVE HER ALONE!_ " Zephyr's scream was pure bird of prey rage. "If you won't help her, I _will_ , you evil Tenno!"

"Zephyr..." Nikis' voice was calmer now. "I know you are angry. Hell, so am _I._ I just found out the truth. I..." The Nekros sounded sad now. "They didn't lie to us, but they didn't tell us the whole truth. Hayden just did. I am sorry, Zephyr."

"Sorry?" Zephyr's voice was flat as the arms that held Kat gave her a squeeze. "You are _sorry?_ How many years did you stinking Tenno _torture_ her and _you are fucking sorry?_ " Oh dear, she was angry. No, scratch that. _Way_ beyond angry. Maybe to _Nikis_ levels of angry. "You goddamn piece of idiotic Tenno _shit!_ You are _sorry!_ Boo fucking hoo!"

"Language, Zephyr." Kat managed and the arms that held her quivered a little. Surprise? Laughter? Hard to say.

"Sorry, Mother." Zephyr was not calm, not in the slightest, but her tone moderated as the arms holding Kat gave a squeeze. "I will not let _any_ of you hurt her again."

"No one is going to hurt her, Zephyr." Nikis said softly. "No one will dare. Hayden is pissed. I am pissed. _Everyone_ is pissed. Whatever that lousy Orokin did to her and you… We can help and we must."

"You leave her _alone!_ " Why was Zephyr growling? Kat could feel her tensing to do something. Was she about to _attack_ Nikis? That was insane! "You had no right. None of you had _any_ right! She is coming with me and you lot can go _screw yourselves._ "

Something happened. Something that Kat could not define. Was that a hum? A whine? A feeling of tension building? All of those and none. Silver light flared nearby.

"Zephyr!" Nikis begged. _Begged!_ "Don't _do_ that! There are limits for a reason! You _cannot_ cross that threshold!"

"Yeah, the only one allowed to do such silliness is _you!_ " Zephyr snarled and then Kat's world went totally nuts. Before she could even begin to parse out the odd sensations, Kat was somewhere bright. It was warm and the feelings around her was cheerful. Zephyr called in an odd language.

Other voices replied urgently as Kat was laid on something that yielded underneath her. Warmth was seeping through her and then she gasped as the meat form that had surrounded her fell away and she could move again. But then, she felt.. She was _physical_ , not a shade! She had eyes that were suddenly blinded by the light. She forced her eyes shut and tried to turn her head away, but she couldn't. She wasn't paralyzed now, she was just so weak. Someone spoke up nearby as a warm hand touched her brow. The woman sounded worried but again, she didn't understand the language.

"Nay, Mi'Lady. She doesn't speak any of the languages of Stratos." Zephyr said quietly. "I didn't have time to explain. I could feel her fading. She speaks this language."

"Then let us not be rude." The voice sounded young, female and kind. Kat felt herself relax a little. "Hello Kat. My name is Tina. I know the light is bright. We will moderate it in a moment when the scans are done and we are sure you are okay. You are safe here. Zephyr asked aid and we gave it. We were in time, if just barely. Whoever bound you to that form was a _moron_." Several people made comments in the other language, most sounding as if in total agreement.

"Where am I?" Kat asked slowly, feeling her body out carefully. Her body felt right as odd as that was. She has never _had_ a body. Katherine had but those memories had faded.

"Eh..." The other heave a deep sigh. "You are not in your reality at the moment." Kat turned her face to the speaker and the other made a noise of sympathy. "It will be a bit weird, but you are Zephyr's mother. You are safe. We will help you." That was an oath.

"Zephyr, what have you done?" Kat begged.

"Saved your life." The other replied as the warmth surrounding Kat grew and grew. It was so soft, so comforting that Kat could do nothing but bask in it. Kat never knew when she fell asleep.

* * *

Some time later

Kat woke up confused. She was lying on something warm, surrounded by warmth. She tried moving. The fingers and toes she flexed all did as they should when her brain asked them to. Something warm was lying beside her. She opened her eyes and went totally still.

"Shh." The _huge silver scaled snout_ that was right beside her said in a very quiet voice. "We just got Zephyr to sleep. You are in no danger here, Kat."

"Your teeth are bigger than I am." Kat said weakly. "How can I be in no danger?" Her eyes bulged as the snout smiled? Then it vanished and in its place a young human girl lay on the bed beside Kat. She was maybe ten years old, had dark blonde hair and skin that was somewhere between white and brown. Her hazel eyes were kind as she took Kat's hands in her own.

"Because Zephyr is a friend and no one wants to hurt the mother of a friend." The girl gave Kat's hands a squeeze. "I am Tina."

"You are not human." Kat was trying hard not to give offense and the girl nodded.

"No, I am not." Tina agreed. "Once, long ago, I was. I had a bad experience and to save my life, people here had to take drastic steps."

"What have you done to me?" Kat asked, staring at herself. She wore an ancient looking garment. Was this a 'nightgown'? The bed she was lying on seemed oddly archaic looking, but from beeping nearby that matched her thundering heart and the call button attached to the side? It was a modern hospital bed.

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" Tina asked, still holding Kat's hands. "I can give the short version. The long version will need a healer." She made a face that looked pure ten year old human girl. "Such would have _lots_ of long words."

"The short version will do." Kat swallowed hard, but relaxed as Tina smiled at her.

"You were composed of energy." Tina did not move, her entire posture and indeed, her entire being focused on keeping Kat calm. "Energy cannot be destroyed, only changed from one form to another. Zephyr told us of her mother when she arrived her the first time. The being she had been created from. The being that she hurt so badly without intending it."

"What?" Kat could barely follow even though the other was being gentle and slow.

"You were terrified of her." Tina was sad now. "You had cause. She didn't know what she was doing. You do not remember the third time she came to you." Kat stared at the other and Tina shook her head. "When she came here, she was little better than you were. Hurt, lost. Alone. Her energy was gradually fading. She refused contact, fearing us." Tina looked away. "She had reason."

"What happened?" Kat pleaded.

"My kind can be just as greedy as any of the golden skinned creeps from her memory. One of them saw her, coveted her and took her. She had no chance against that one." Tina slumped. "If my uncle hadn't been visiting at the time, I don't know what would have happened to her. As it was, she was a mess when the healers here got her. My uncle does not approve of slavery or anything that smacks of it. Understandable after his experiences and no one sane says no when he tells them to surrender their slaves. It gets so messy." The last was in a tone of profound understatement.

"I know people like that." Kat was relaxing again. Either she was doomed or she was safe. Wherever she was, she had no way to run now. Odd. The wolf inside her mind was quiet. But the other's next words had her tensing again.

"You know Nikis." Tina said quietly. Kat stared at the girl who wasn't one and Tina snorted. "Yeah, I know him too. _Long_ story. It would take a couple of years to tell properly and some of it I have no right to tell." She shook her head. "Not someone to anger."

"No." Kat sighed. Tina shifted somehow until she was lying beside Kat. She felt warm and comforting. "What did you do? Can you bring Katherine back?"

"The being who was made into Zephyr is gone." Tina said quietly. "We saw in Zephyr's memories what happened to her while she was being healed here. Most of us were fairly irate. We gave her a place and a duty, but she was always focused on getting back, on helping you. No one would deny her that. No one." Rage sang in her tone, but the odd girl squelched it before it could do more than register. Kat wasn't afraid. Not now. She was completely out of control and it didn't worry her. "She knew as soon as she saw you that you were her mother. She is not an animal, but she has instincts that others lack or subdue in the name of being civilized. She saw you in pain and wanted to help, but every time she came close, she hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Kat asked, confused.

"Yes." Tina sighed. "No one realized because the damage that was being done wasn't physical or mental. It was on a deeper level. On the level of energy." Kat stared at her and Tina grimaced. "Um, just trust me on that?" She pleaded. "We don't have time for a high end physics discussion as fascinating as such would be."

"So, I was hurting her?" Kat asked, concern rising.

"You were both hurting each other. Your energies were incompatible." Tina corrected her gently. "I can understand wanting a lost friend back, but what they did to the woman who became you is unforgivable. She wanted an end and they wouldn't give it to her. You?" She sighed. "They made Zephyr to try and 'help' you. You didn't need help. You are not the woman Katherine Keras."

"I have her memories." Kat protested carefully. She didn't want this odd girl angry.

"Because they were shoved into your mind." Tina said sternly and then visibly relaxed. "None of what happened is your fault. None of what happened is Zephyr's fault. None of it." She sighed deeply. "Least of all what happened the last time she tried to help you. The third time."

"I don't remember but twice." Kat protested.

"You had fled your bondage again and been caught by someone other than Nikis. You were imprisoned by the golden skinned beings from your world." Tina said quietly. "They saw you and realized you were something different. They were curious. Many scientists have the same itch, but few of the ones _I_ know would have imprisoned you to try and take you apart to see how you were constructed. Even as energy, you were a _sentient being_. They didn't care. They wanted to see how you were constructed and worked to disassemble you. Zephyr's reaction on seeing you like that was _completely_ understandable. Nikis arrived to find the lab in shambles, you lying there with your energy form half shredded and her nowhere to be seen." She made a sad noise. "Zephyr pushed too far in her rage and broke a lot of barriers. Wound up here. Nikis shot the few who had survived Zephyr's wrath and took you back to be healed. It took you some time to recover and you do not remember the horror they put you through." Tina's eyes held a hint of remembered pain. "I wish I didn't remember mine sometimes."

Kat surprised herself when she sat up and drew Tina into a hug. The girl stiffened for a moment, but then hugged her back.

"How do you know this?" Kat asked.

"Because Nikis told me." Tina replied. Kat stared at her and the girl smiled. "He is waiting. As always, he is waiting impatiently, but he _is_ waiting."

"He followed us." Kat felt fear rise, but Tina hugged her again and the fear faded.

"Yes, he did." Tina agreed. "You see, Zephyr wasn't the first to wind up here all unknowing. Nikis came here a long, long time ago. He and my uncle hit it right off."

"Telling stories, are we, Tina?" Nikis' voice was odd as he stepped into view and Kat went totally still as she saw a black armored form, but it _wasn't_ a Nekros warframe! It was some kind of odd metal like warframes were composed of, but it looked more like scales than Orokin biotech. That wasn't a Tenno sword at his back or Tenno pistols at his sides. He had a smile in his voice was he looked at Kat. "You are looking good, Kat."

"Nikis?" Kat stared at the sort of warframe. "You didn't want Zephyr to do this."

"Most people trying such don't come _out_ the other side. Didn't want either of you dead." Nikis said quietly. "If I had remembered… I would have helped. I didn't even think about Lady Zee. We owe her."

"It is _our_ debt, Nikis." Tina said sourly. "Not _yours_. You paid and paid and paid. How many times did you die fighting them?"

"The only thing required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Nikis replied, giving Tina a shallow bow. "The Throm-Vai were evil. They needed to go. I was young but I _did_ know right from wrong."

"Dumbass." Tina snarled that so sourly that both Nikis and Kat laughed.

"Guilty as charged, Clan Lady." Nikis nodded to her and then focused on Kat. "Kat, you can stay here. They have healed you and Zephyr has a place here."

"Indeed she does." Tina agreed. "Anytime she wishes."

"You said there were others in danger." Kat said slowly. "That there were shades dying. They needed my code. My code." She said weakly, pulling a hand free of Tina to pat herself. "Oh my god! I can't help them!"

"Fading, not dying." Nikis corrected her gently. "Class One Threshold Breach. Means that someone is playing with life and death, usually making monsters. In this case? The dipshit was making slaves."

"Don't say that too loud!" Tina warned. "If Uncle Will hears that..." Nikis winced visibly and Tina nodded. "Not that I disagree! If the wardens wouldn't object, I would be so tempted to send an _army_ back with you."

"Yeah, well..." Nikis sighed deeply. "Fool has pissed off just about everybody. His life expectancy isn't very long anyway. Might just give whatever is left to Eliza. She has about as much forgiveness for this kind of thing as your uncle does. But uh… I may have to ask a boon." Kat wasn't say why, but she knew the girl in her arms was suddenly tense. Nikis saw whatever it was and continued quickly. "Not for me. For Iriana. She will need sanctuary."

"You know she won't accept it, Nikis." Tina said flatly. "And no, we will _not_ hold her against her will."

"Iriana?" Kat asked, confused. "I don't know any Iriana."

"You wouldn't." Nikis shook his head. "She is a Tenno healer from the present time. She is um, a bit of a handful sometimes, but she is a good soul. A very good soul who has been abused so many times it just ain't funny." Tina glared at him and he shook his head. "I can't talk about it."

"Well, I _can!_ " Tina snarled and a hint of _big, scaled monster_ sounded in her tone. "We cannot, will not and shall not even contemplate holding her here against her will, Nikis. Not going to happen."

"A big bad knows she was healed from something that cannot be healed." Nikis said very quietly. "No one else has guessed but I know the other Guardians are curious." Tina glared at him harder and he shook his head. "I dunno what to do, Clan Lady."

"Tell her the truth!" Tina snapped.

"I cannot do that!" Nikis retorted. "Her life is a mess already!"

"Wait." Kat said slowly. "You and Zephyr have been here." Tina nodded even as Nikis remained impassive. "This other, Iriana, you brought her here the same way Zephyr brought me."

"Not the same way." Tina replied. Nikis glared at her and she shook her head. "Don't start, old man. I am not bound by your oaths. We will not imprison her and that is what it would take to hold her here. 'No'. That is final." Nikis slumped and looked away. Tina sighed and turned back to Kat. "She was fading just as you were, worse in some ways. She pushed too hard, too far and too long. She was abused and hurt so badly. We helped her and we would have welcomed her here, but she had family there and she wouldn't stay. She doesn't remember us and it is best that way."

"If I leave, I won't remember, will I?" Kat asked. Nikis and Tina both shook their heads. "For the best. Hmmm..." She shook her head. "My pack needs me." A noise drew her attention to a wall that looked carved from stone. "Zephyr."

Tina sighed as a silver and blue-purple warframe rose from where she had been kneeling by the wall to stride to Kat's bedside. It too was scales instead of biotch metal.

"Why do I even _bother_ trying to be nice to you?" Tina asked in a long suffering voice.

"Because you are a good being, Clan Lady." Zephyr said sadly. "For the insults, Nikis, I apologize."

"You were stressed. Your mom was dying." Nikis snorted. "Oh, and you should have _heard_ what _Hayden_ said to those fools. You haven't been dressed down until _The First Tenno_ has done it to you." He actually shuddered. "Those four ain't gonna enjoy their punishment."

"I have to go back." Kat pleaded. All three of the others looked at her. "Zephyr, no matter what, those shades came from me. He made them from me. I don't want any to die because of me." A wolf howled in her tone, plaintive sound of grief.

"I didn't know he was taking people I touched until the last time." Zephyr said quietly. "That was when I left human society behind and hid in the wilderness."

Nikis did not speak. He looked at Tina who looked thoughtful. She looked from the black frame to the silver, purple-blue one to Kat and then she smiled. It was not a friendly smile. More a grim promise.

"Iriana is in danger. Second rule of Storms." The girl who wasn't one said firmly. Both warframes stiffened. Kat just looked blank. Tina hugged her again. "I will miss you, Kat. If you and Zephyr _ever_ need a safe place to rest, you will be welcome here."

"Why?" Kat asked, stunned by all of this. She felt something start to build around her and didn't bother to resist. Of all people, Nikis responded.

"Because Lady Zee Darkstorm earned any respect the people of Stratos can give her when she saved the Clan Lady and the entire Assembly, _including the dragon who had caged her_ , from an enemy plot that involved an atomic bomb. Nearly at the cost of her own life."

The Nekros had hold of one of Kat's hands and Zephyr had the other as Tina laid both hands on Kat's forehead. The energy felt heavenly.

"Long story there." Kat was falling slowly, so slowly.

"Yes, indeed." Tina's voice was the huge gravelly sound but Kat's eyes were so heavy now, she couldn't open them. "Rule Two sent and acknowledged. They are pissed. Help is on the way, girl. Hold tight."

"What is Rule Two?" Kat asked as she felt the bed underneath her.

"Leave Stormkin _alone_." Tina said flatly. "And Iriana _is_ Stormkin. Kin of a Darkstorm."

"She is?" Kat was floating. "Who is she related to?"

Again, Nikis replied.

"Me."


	18. Chapter 18

**Barriers**

"Zephyr? I can help."

More than one of the assembled Tenno and others held their breath as Iriana stepped towards the angry warframe who held her burden in gentle hands. No one understood what had happened, but everyone was angry. Nikis had vanished off to do whatever the hell he did and left Zephyr to 'explain' what had happened to Kat to everyone. Her explanation had left a lot to be desired and she had steadily gotten angrier as everyone had become more confused.

"She is not hurt." Zephyr snapped.

"Zephyr, my job is to help people." Iriana explained carefully. "All we know is that she left the Clergy facility as a shade, was taken in transit by a fairly nasty scum and now, is back as a physical form. Can you blame us for being a little leery?"

"She is not hurt." Zephyr repeated. "I cannot trust Tenno!"

At that, everyone in the room winced. No one contradicted her. The tension hadn't been good before Zephyr had arrived at the hidden tower and now? It was so high as to nearly be physically painful.

"Brianna is busy educating the slime who took Kat." The human woman in the ancient looking nun's habit said slowly. She had been introduced as 'The Reverend Mother'. Of what or for what had been vague. She didn't move. Indeed, no one did. Zephyr wasn't armed but power flared all around her in her distress. She was incredibly dangerous. The only upside? She wasn't insane. She was listening.

Now, if only she would let the medics tend Kat.

"Tenno hurt her." Zephyr snarled.

"Yes, we did." Iriana slumped a bit. " _Everyone_ who has heard about this is shamed by it, Zephyr. What our ancestors did. I can understand _why_. Losing family and friends is one reason that many Tenno choose to forget. Choose to embrace whatever path they follow to the exclusion of all else. But if we forget? We become little more than organic robots." She shook her head. "Now? _H_ _ow_ they did what they did… _That_ was just plain wrong. Zephyr, please. Let me help." She begged. "I just want to make sure she is _all right!_ " She was nearly in tears.

Zephyr stared at the healer for a long, long moment and then slowly knelt, laying Kat down on the golden floor. She was so careful, as if she were afraid Kat would break. She gently stroked Kat's head and then backed up a step. Iriana smiled, went to her knees beside the still woman and started checking vitals. A white robed form took a step forward, but stopped when Iriana's hand shot up.

"Back off, Violet!" Iriana commanded. "She will not, _cannot_ trust. My life is in your hands, Zephyr." She said quietly.

"I don't want your life." Zephyr growled. "I want my Mother. You Tenno can all go _hang!_ "

"Tenno hurt Kat. Hurt you." Rachel said softly. The Saryn Prime hadn't moved from her spot since Zephyr had arrived, Jasmina a statue beside her. "You cannot trust us. I understand that. We do want to help, Zephyr. But you cannot trust." Zephyr shook her head. "Iriana?" The Leader of the First asked when Iriana made a soft noise of incredulity.

Everyone noticed when Zephyr heard that name. Suddenly, the furious warframe relaxed a little. No one _else_ did.

"She is fine. More than fine. She seems in perfect health." Iriana finished what she was doing, rose slowly and started to step back. She paused when Zephyr looked at her. "Zephyr?"

"You are Iriana. I have heard some. You are a mother as well as a Tenno Healer." Zephyr said slowly. Iriana nodded, mystified. "Can you help the shades here? My mother was very upset about the condition of the shades here." Iriana shook her head.

"My focus has always been on the living." Iriana replied. "Kat now numbers among those." Her face hardened. "The only way _anyone_ is hurting her again is over my dead body." Zephyr inclined her head in acknowledgment.

" _Our_ dead bodies." Many people in the room growled that in unison.

"You also have been hurt by Tenno and others." Zephyr took a slow step. No one else moved as she walked right up to Iriana. She looked the Healer over and then nodded. "You understand what happens when the end justifies the means. You, I will trust, but not blindly."

"No one is asking you to." Iriana said quietly as Zephyr held out a hand to her. "There are enough angry people here, Zephyr. We need some calm here." She took Zephyr's hand and something green flared between then. Everyone tensed, but relaxed when Iriana smiled. "Um, Zephyr? What was that? It felt good."

"Our energies are oddly compatible." Zephyr mused as she released the Healer's hand. "I haven't met anyone like that recently. _You_ , I will trust." She repeated. She bowed to the Healer and stepped back, taking up station next to Kat's sleeping form.

"I hope to be worthy of such." Iriana said with a nod. Then she turned to the group and nodded to them. "Kat is fine. Well, odd, but fine. She is in a human body. Not a broken shell like that fool is fond of. I have no idea how she wound up this way and _no one_ will press Zephyr for an explanation." That was a command and everyone nodded. "Kat might be more comfortable in a bed." She said slowly, looking at Zephyr who gathered Kat up again.

"I am not leaving her side." Zephyr said flatly.

"Again, no one is asking you to." Iriana replied. "No one is that stupid. There will be no scans, no experimentation." Again, a command and everyone nodded. "You don't trust Tenno, and after everything, I can understand. Is there anyone you _would_ trust?" Zephyr looked at her and Iriana slumped. "There isn't, is there?"

"Tenno and Orokin hurt her and Kat." The golden gowned form in the back, surrounded by four warframes said quietly. Michelle as just as happy as everyone else. Not at all. Zephyr looked at her and everyone looked confused as Zephyr relaxed further. The woman in the corner paused and then spoke again. "Do you know me?"

"No." Zephyr was quiet, but firm.

"Do you know _of_ me?" The woman asked.

"Yes." Zephyr replied, still calm.

"And you won't talk about it." Not a question. " _Story of my life._ " She said so sourly that everyone bit back a chuckle. Even Zephyr seemed a bit amused.

"No." Zephyr replied. "But, I _can_ say that I am glad neither you nor Master Crowley took any lasting hurts behind the mind. Even if he _is_ as crazy as the Mad Hatter." At that, Michelle went still and Zephyr nodded to her. Michelle slowly nodded back, her face utterly blank.

"I see." The Princess of Orokin was still confused, but she hid it well. "Would you trust _humans?"_ She asked.

"Humans are generally less than capable of stopping Tenno or Orokin with fell intent." Zephyr replied, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. She perked up as Michelle looked at another who chuckled.

"Generally, yes." The woman in the nun's habit was smiling. "Not always." She looked around and everyone was nodding. "Iriana, you seem to be the liaison person. Would you mind?"

"No nukes." Iriana said in a flat voice that had everyone starting at her. "He brings a nuke in _her_ _e_ and I am kicking his _butt_." More than one person snickered at that. Zephyr looked at her oddly. "That human is capable. _Crazy_ , but capable."

"I have known a few like that." Again, Zephyr was totally noncommittal. "I can agree on not having nuclear weapons near my mother." She bent down carefully and picked Kat up. "If the humans are competent enough, then I have no objections." She made a very human sounding sigh. "She would be more comfortable in a bed."

"Come." Iriana smiled as she stared for the door but then she frowned. "I want to call you 'Sister' but you are not and you won't trust me. With reason."

"What was done to my mother was not done by any Tenno from this time." Zephyr followed the Healer, the Reverend Mother and the white clad Violet following them. "But no, trust will not happen." Iriana slumped bu then Zephyr continued. "That said, there is no need for me to be rude."

"You are far more...um… lucid than our histories paint you." Iriana said a bit shyly as she led the way to another room, this one with several gray shades hovering nearby. "Let Zephyr here get her mother situated, then you can talk. No peeking!" The Healer warned as several of the smallest shades started to quiver in anticipation. "Let her wake on her own. If I find anyone else wakes her, I will not be happy."

Her tone as pure warning. Not even Nikis could have bettered that and all the shades nodded. Zephyr laid Kat on the bed, then waited while Iriana checked her again.

"But..." One of the smallest shades started, only to stop as Iriana glared her it. "Yes, Healer." It bobbed, its attempt at a nod.

"You do have kids." Zephyr had a smile in her voice when Iriana finished up. "How is she? I am no Healer."

"As far as I can tell with so few scans, she is fine." Iriana mused. "Which makes no sense. She was taken from Nikis as they journeyed here. She was thrown into a meat shell that would not have allowed her to do anything, as badly as it was constructed. Then she vanished from the floor here. She went to you?"

"She did." Zephyr allowed. "I took her to someone I know who can help. I cannot talk about it, Healer." She warned when Iriana looked curious.

"All of the other shades here have been examined by Guardians of the Dead." Iriana mused as she shut the door. Then she turned to the mob of gray forms. The shades moved back from her glare. "Let her wake on her own."

"Is she all right?" A very small voice asked. A tiny girl coalesced one of the shades. "She looks so small and lost. Is Mother all right?" She begged, nearly in tears.

"She is all right, Gretchen." Iriana reassured the tiny shade. Zephyr was looking at the girl who stood under the warframe's scrutiny.

"I remember you. I did this." Zephyr said softly. "I touched you and your mother."

"I ran out into a busy street chasing my ball and my mother chased me." Gretchen was just as soft. "You saved us _both_ from being crushed under that freight truck."

"I saw him paralyze you and take you. I was too far away to help you." Zephyr went to her knees, staring at the shade. "I am sorry."

"You did not do this, Zephyr." Iriana reassured her. The others nodded, silent.

"No." Zephyr agreed as she rose. "But I was the catalyst for this. My actions in trying to help my mother set a number of events into motion that may very well threaten everything." At that, everyone stared at her. Zephyr slowly shook her head. "There are limits for a reason. Some thresholds should never be crossed."

"What have I told you about moping?" A sour voice asked as a warframe stepped out of nowhere to stand in front of her. Everyone went still, but Zephyr relaxed. Everyone else was confused. That was an Excalibur warframe, but it had _boobs_ and the voice was _female_. What the hell? She held a staff and no other weapon.

"Not to." Zephyr snorted. "Sorry, can't help it, Michelle. Everyone helped, but I am what I am."

"I don't feel Tenno energy. You are not Tenno." Iriana said slowly. Both Zephyr and the newcomer shook their heads. "Who are you and why are you here?"

"As Zephyr said, my name is Michelle. She called for help." The newcomer said with a nod. "I am here to help."

Everyone stared at Zephyr who shook her head. When she spoke, it was resigned.

" _Subtle_ , Michelle, _really_ subtle." The silver and blue warframe's tone might have made a lemon seem sweet. "And what is with the _warframe?_ "

"I thought to blend in." 'Michelle' said with a shrug. "From your reactions? Not a great job of it." She didn't seem overly concerned. Surrounded by so many angry powerful people? That spoke of stupidity or _vast_ power. And despite Zephyr's reaction? This woman wasn't acting stupid. Caution was advised.

"Um..." The Reverend Mother said slowly. "Excalibur warframes are male proportioned." She stilled as the warframe shimmered and it was suddenly a Khora warframe! But it had gold in places! A Khora _Prime?_ The Reverend Mother nodded. "That is a bit better." She allowed.

"Still not right?" Michelle asked, curious. Then she snorted. "Oh, right. No one but Royal Guard have Khora Primes." Everyone but Zephyr stiffened as the warframe shimmered again and this time, it was a regular Khora warframe. Zephyr just shook her head, muttering about 'showoff kids'.

"And..." Iriana said slowly. "You know about the Royal Guard."

"I do." Michelle shook her head. "Have no fear, Healer Iriana. I am not here to fight you or yours. I am here, as I said, to help." She nodded to Zephyr. "Our friend asked help, we gave it. We cannot explain why or where, but I can go into detail _how_." Iriana perked up at that and the Khora warframe nodded. "Kat's energy was fading far too quickly for any normal means to save her. Zephyr knew this, so she had to try extraordinary means." All of the gray shades were hanging on every word and she shook her head. "Kat asked our help and we are honor bound to do so."

"And you won't say why." Iriana said slowly. The Khora warframe shook her head and the Healer sighed. "I see."

"Please understand that I mean no offense, Tenno Healer Iriana." Michelle reassured her. "There are things that cannot and must-"

That was when the wall blew in and several hovering forms floated into view. _Somehow_ , Michelle and Zephyr were between Iriana and the approaching monsters before they made it halfway to her. They ignored everyone else, focusing on the frozen Healer.

"Sentient!"

The humans bolted, the shades likewise. Iriana started to follow, but Michelle placed herself between the hovering forms and the Tenno Healer as she retreated a step and the Sentients followed _her!_

"Healer? Don't move." Michelle said flatly. "You." She addressed the Sentients who ignored her to approach Iriana who was retreating again. Zephyr was blocking the door to Kat's room. "Flee or be destroyed. Your choice." An Oculyst scan beam lashed out to touch the warframe. A green flash lit the room. The metal monster gave a metallic cry and collapsed to the floor, completely inert. Michelle shook her head. "Super-intelligence or no, _t_ _hat_ was _rude_."

Most of the Sentients, realizing that Michelle was far more than she seemed, focused on her, but one was aiming something at Iriana who quailed. Zephyr stayed between the Healer and the five remaining Sentients.

"If there are five in here, there are more. Probably drawn by the Orokin energy being tossed about." The Khora warframe slowly shook her head as the Sentients flared with energy, preparing to attack. "Well… You lot adapt to anything you can parse. You will have a great deal of difficulty parsing _this_."

Her staff whirled in her hands and suddenly there were four _more_ beings standing there. The others looked human. Sort of. Their garb was some kind of skin tight high tech armor. Their weapons were a mix of ultra sophisticated looking gear and brutal melee weapons.

"Storm we fight." Michelle said flatly as she took a place in their midst. Five human forms versus five Sentients. It should have seemed laughable. It _wasn't_. Were the Sentients _retreating?_

"Storm we fly." The others replied in unison, hefting rifles, pistols and a nasty looking naginata type weapon. All glowed green

"Storm we live!" Michelle was setting herself even as Zephyr moved to shield Iriana from whatever was about to happen.

" _Storm we DIE!_ "

The shout the five odd beings gave as they charged shook the very walls. The insane humans and the equally insane whatever-that-was inhabiting the Khora warframe were all glowing green as they hit the Sentients and forced them _back_ into the breach they had made.

"Zephyr...?" Iriana said weakly. "Um..."

"We should stay with Kat. It will be loud." Zephyr seemed unconcerned as the sounds of battle came from the walls. Was that a _piece of a Sentient_ that came flying out of the hole before disintegrating? Iriana didn't look closely. "Michelle and the others will be quick and sure. There will be no Sentients left in this tower in ten minutes. Any that do not flee will be destroyed. However. There is _one_ thing that needs doing. Remain still."

Iriana stared as the Zephyr warframe moved to the fallen Oculyst. Her eyes went huge as Zephyr glowed the same green Michelle had and the form rose up from the floor to hover in midair. A metallic scream came from the thing as the green energy seared around it and into it. It jerked, coming back to life.

"You will not breach the barrier." Zephyr said in a calm voice as the Sentient scout tried to escape its green prison and could not. "You may very well be a Destroyer of Worlds Hunhow, but you just met _several_ of them. You will _not_ breach the barrier. Oh and if you touch this Tenno Healer? We will be back. And next time? We will be _angry_. We are not yet."

This _wasn't_ them angry? Oh dear.

 _ **The breach is growing.**_ The voice that came from the Sentient was not anything that Iriana had ever imagined. Was it _afraid?_

"I know." Zephyr replied. "It is handled." The drone spun in its prison to focus on Iriana who quailed.

 _ **That is the focus!**_ The Sentient begged. Begged! _**If you do not seal it, this reality will fail.**_

"What do _you_ care?" Zephyr was more than a bit snide now. "If everything is destroyed, you win, right?"

"A reality breach?" Iriana asked, suddenly even more scared. "Aren't there… um… wardens or something who can stop such a thing?"

"What do you think we are _doing?_ " Zephyr asked quietly. Iriana stared at her and the warframe nodded. "Please don't tell anyone, Healer."

 _ **That is the breach!**_ The Sentient said urgently. _**You must seal it.**_

"Oh?" Zephyr asked slowly. "So _you_ want to anger Nikis by destroying one of his friends? That is what you are doing? Right? Not to mention, you just started a war with _us_ when you attacked one of our kin."

 _ **NO!**_ The Sentient was still begging. _**We did not**_ _**attack her.**_ _**We will not harm her! The Tenno known as Iriana will be sequestered, not harmed. We know not to anger you wardens.**_

"Funny, I think you just _did_. That scan on Michelle was an assault. It was also _dumb._ " Zephyr winced as a resounding crash came from somewhere below. "Ah, Michelle..." She groaned. "I guess it is good thing _Will_ didn't come. He takes a dim view to such things and he probably would have just nuked your ass."

"Wait a minute..." Iriana said weakly. "I am Tenno. Not kin to a warden."

"You don't know your whole family tree, Iriana." Zephyr said quietly. "Lots of records were lost in the collapse. You are kin, that is enough for us." Another resounding crash sounded, followed by a hollow 'boom'. Zephyr snarled and spoke to empty air. "Michelle, don't break _everything!_ " Whatever reply she got was inaudible and she muttered. "Crazy humans."

"Um… I think I resent that." A stunned human voice preceded five humans into view. These were Corpus troops, but not the rank and file. No, Corpus Special Forces. Led by their commander. Horatius took in the scene and shook his head. "Iriana, you okay?"

"Not really." Iriana winced as the team surrounded her, barring the door while eyeing Zephyr and the imprisoned Sentient warily. "Still trying to figure out what is going on."

 _ **The end of the world.**_ The voice of the what had to be the master of the Sentients snapped. _**Y**_ _ **ou**_ _ **are causing it! You and that crazy relative of yours in the Nekros warframe. That barrier exists for a**_ _ **reason!**_

She was...? Related...?

That was too much. For the first time in quite a while, Iriana fainted.


	19. Chapter 19

**The right to choose**

Kat woke up refreshed, which was odd, since the last thing she remembered was Zephyr grabbing her, telling off _Nikis_ of all people and then… Her memory was blank? Something had happened. Something silver? Her need to know was cut off as she stared around and bit back a scream. She knew this place or something very much like it. She remembered what had been done to her in such a room.

Kat was out of the bed and against the wall by the door before her brain caught up with the fact that she was actually touching things. Then she froze, staring at her hand as she brought it up to her face. It was solid, not composed of gray energy. She stared down at herself. She was clad in a form fitting blue bodysuit and she was flesh. Not like the flesh she had been confined in, but actual, real…

Kat fought hard not to gibber as she slowly touched her face with her fingers.

"This… This can't be happening." Kat said weakly.

"It did." A kind female voice sounded and a high caste Orokin appeared out of thin air against the far wall. "Good morning, Kat." The woman said with a smile that fell as Kat recoiled. "Kat, you are in no danger now."

"What have you done to me _this_ time?" Kat demanded.

"I didn't do that." The woman said with a frown. "The one who hurt you before and then confined you in a meat shell before is confined himself and awaiting transport to judgment." To Kat's stunned eyes the woman slowly knelt! What high caste Orokin would kneel to _anyone?_ Well, besides their _Emperor_ , who Kat certainly was not. "So many have hurt you, Tenno and Orokin alike. You cannot trust us. You are safe, Kat." She slowly shook her head. "My name is Brianna Executor. Once, Brianna Enginus, but now? Remade by the same madman who hurt you so many times."

"Do not kneel to me." Kat said a bit weakly.

"I placed myself lower than you because you are frightened." Brianna replied evenly. "Not for subservience. You are frightened and you have every right to be. This is not where you were tortured, but it was run by the same scum until I wrested control from him. I will rise and sit on the bed." She put action to words, rising and then sitting. Her long arms folded into her lap as she waited for Kat to respond.

"Why?" Kat pleaded. "Why did he do that?"

"I don't know." Brianna admitted. "He claims so many things, but he lies as often as he breathes so nothing he says can be trusted. Did he ever talk to you?" Brianna went still as Kat hissed.

"Wait. _Brianna Enginus?_ " Brianna stared as Kat slowly relaxed. "I remember her. She was kind."

" _Me?_ " Brianna asked, confused. " _I_ was there…? Oh, _damn_ him." She sighed as realization struck. "He must have wiped my memories of his crimes against you and Zephyr. Then again… If the Emperor had discovered just how messed up his dreams were, then high caste or no, Lorinos would have _died_ in a very long and painful fashion. What he did to you angered _everyone_ when they found out. I hope I helped?" She all but pleaded.

"You did. You were Orokin but kind. You tried to be gentle. You eased my pain several times. It did something to his experiments and he hurt you. I remember hearing you scream, seeing you encased in energy. Then the memories cut off." Kat said weakly. Brianna heaved a sigh and then patted the bed beside her. Kat stared at her and Brianna shook her head.

"We survived." Brianna said sadly. "You lost a lot of the energy that made you up and from what I understand you took hundreds of years to recover. When she found you in that state, Zephyr tried to help and you lashed out unknowing. She was justifiably upset as a result. She blew the lab to hell and apparently made a hell of a mess elsewhere as well. Me? Lorinos eventually sold me to another madman who made me do horrors for long, long time."

Kat moved to the bed and sat, still wary. Brianna just laid her hand on the bed and after a moment, Kat covered it with hers.

"What do we do now?" Kat asked, her eyes burning. "I am not energy anymore. I cannot help the shades here."

"The shades are not fading now." Brianna said quietly. "With my power and the Guardians' assistance, I have stabilized them. It won't last forever, but it will last for some time. What happened to them is not your fault. The blame for that lies solely with Lorinos. We will look for options, but rest easy. That is not your concern for the moment."

"I am flesh." Kat said weakly. Brianna nodded. "Did you do this?" Brianna shook her head.

"I don't know how it happened and no one will say, but that body is well constructed." The Orokin woman said with a shrug as Kat stared at her hands. "Better construction that anything I could do. You are fully human in every possible way I can sense." At that, Kat's eyes widened.

"If _you_ didn't do it and _he_ didn't do it, then who did?" Kat wasn't quite pleading.

"They are waiting outside to talk to you." Brianna said quietly. "Zephyr and the others have been patient, but lots of people are very upset by this. No one is upset with _you_. There are guards outside the door, humans guards, but they are ordered to protect you. Lots of others are warding this tower, both inside and outside. Right now, you might be the single most important person in the solar system, Kat."

"Why?" Kat begged and Brianna gave her hand a squeeze.

"Because you are the mother of one of the wardens of reality. And _they_ are _pissed._ "

"The what?" Kat was rapidly losing her… Brianna gave her hand another squeeze, almost painfully hard, and Kat could focus again. "What are you doing?" Kat asked.

"Giving you something concrete to focus on." Brianna had a sad smile on her face as Kat stared at her. "We are both survivors of Lorinos' madness. Both of us have the right to be incurably insane after what he did to us. I am- _was-_..." She corrected herself grimly. "...a mental specialist. A specialist in treating mind traumas. Your mental pain calls to me, but I have no right to do _anything_ to you after all of the violations. Right now? If you need to lash out, to scream, to yell, to strike me, do it."

"Strike?" Kat asked in a tiny voice.

"Lorinos was trying to make slaves." Brianna said quietly. "The perfect slaves. Energy forms don't need silly things like food, housing or even oxygen. If the shell they are in dies? Make another. Simple. Simple and _evil._ What few records I have found said that he planned to use you to make thousands of the shades that he would then make bodies for. An alternative to the Grineer." Kat looked confused and Brianna shook her head. "You missed that. Clones."

"But why would I _hit_ you?" If anything, Kat was more confused.

"Because you have been out of control for your _entire_ existence. The _only_ time you were in control of _anything_ was when you were running for you life." Brianna said softly. "And suddenly, you are _in_ control. You are safe. Now you can do whatever you want. Part of me hopes you won't kill me. Part of me wants you to."

"Part of me still wants to die." Kat's voice cracked and tears started to fall. "I..."

"Come here." Brianna pulled Kat close as the woman tried to stop crying and couldn't. Then Brianna was rocking her gently as she sobbed. "Let it out. Let it out."

Kat lost track of time. All that existed was the pain, the grief, the rage the horror, the sadness, the… The tears. Brianna held her throughout it all, the woman's kindness the same as it had been so long ago. She did lash out once and Brianna just held her even as Kat tried to apologize, tried to speak and couldn't through the tears. Finally, she just sat and let the tears flow freely.

"That's it." Brianna said gently after some time had passed. It might have been minutes or hours. "That's it, Kat. Easy. You are coming down. You are going to be okay."

" _ **Why?**_ " Kat begged as Brianna hugged her. " _Why did he do this?_ "

"Orokin came from humans, so we are just as capable of awfulness as any of the worst in human history. I like to think we are just as capable of good too, but hey, I am a realist. Survival will always trump morals." Brianna was rubbing Kat's hair. It felt different. Kat pulled some into her view and stared at her hair. It was long, silky even. Brianna smiled at her dumbfounded expression. "You like your hair?"

"I never had long hair. Did you do this?" Kat asked, fingering the lock she held with her free hand. The other was still gripped in Brianna's.

"No." Brianna smiled. "Like I say, it is better than anything Orokin could do. Totally natural, totally you."

"What do I do now?" Kat asked. "I mean, all I knew was running. Now?"

"Now, you have friends who will want to help you." Brianna said quietly. "I hope to be one someday but… None of us will take your right to choose from you now. No one, from Nikis and the Empress on down will dare to do so. If you still want an end, you have _earned_ the right to choose such, Kat. You should probably talk to Zephyr first, but again, it is your choice."

"Talk?" Kat paused. "That doesn't scare me now. I wonder why." She said, almost awed. "I… I will talk to her."

"Do you want to do it alone?" Brianna asked. "I can give you full privacy here." She would have said more, but Kat hugged her tight.

"Stay with me?" Kat begged. "I am tired of being alone."

"I know the feeling." Brianna sighed and then rose, pulling Kat up with her. "Everyone is upset, but _you_ are in _no_ danger. Anyone who offers you the _slightest_ affront will likely be torn apart on the spot." She grimaced. "Then if they are lucky, Nikis won't grab them and make their afterlife hell. He is angry."

"Is Nikis ever _not_ angry?" Kat quipped weakly.

"Not in my experience, no." Brianna smiled at her. "Courage, Kat. We are here for you. The shades swore allegiance to me and I am here for you. We are both survivors and we both bear scars. We will go on or not. No one will deny us our choices again."

She led the way to the door and it opened to a cacophony of many irate voices speaking. Said noise stopped abruptly as Brianna cleared her throat loudly. Kat shrank up against Brianna as everyone in her room turned to look at the golden woman and her companion. Five human guards formed up around them both. None of them so much as looked at Kat and she felt comforted by their obvious professionalism.

"As you can see, Kat is awake." Brianna said quietly, but it was a voice that would be obeyed. "She is stressed. Anyone who adds to her stress will be asked to leave. _Anyone._ "

Calm. Clear. Merciless. Far from cowed, Kat straightened little as Brianna's unconditional support sank in fully. The Orokin would _die_ before she let anyone hurt Kat again. Every single being in the room nodded.

"Mother?" Kat did not quail as Zephyr stepped forward from a group of four humans and a warframe who stood near one wall. "Are you well?" She asked, oddly hesitant.

"Physically, yes." Kat said softly. "Emotionally? I am a mess. What did you do, Zephyr?"

"I took you somewhere where they could help you." Zephyr said quietly. "I am no healer. I could feel your energy fading, and I… I am sorry?" She offered.

"For what?" Kat was confused. "You saved my life. Thank you."

"I made a mess, Mother." Zephyr said weakly. "I made such a mess."

She was all but crying and Kat sighed. She took a step forward, Brianna and the guards at her side. Kat gave Brianna's hand a squeeze and the Orokin released her. The guards remained in place as Kat stepped to the warframe and threw her arms around the suddenly still blue and silver bio armor.

"Is anyone dead?" Kat asked into a sudden silence.

"Um, no." Zephyr didn't seem to dare move. "I... Um, well, a bunch of Sentients were destroyed but they were not technically alive to begin with."

"Can the mess be fixed?" Kat asked.

"Yes, but..." Zephyr shook her head careful to avoid Kat's body with her warframe's sharp edges. "I want to stay."

"You can't stay?" Kat asked and the silence was suddenly sharp. Zephyr didn't move. "Zephyr, what have you done?" She repeated.

"I swore to aid you and I have." Zephyr said softly. "I have to go back. I have a job I have been ignoring for long, long time."

"Bullcrap." Came from the warframe with the four humans. "Don't start the moping again, Zephyr. We all understand about debts. This was a debt. To _family_ no less! You have paid it." Her voice turned kind. "Take what time you need. It may be a very long time before you see her again. We will be waiting."

Kat's eyes went huge as all five beings in that small group simply vanished. She stared at where they had been and then at Zephyr who would not meet her eyes. She stared around the room and everyone shrugged in unison. Then she grinned.

" _Long story?_ " Her tone was wicked and more than one of the people laughed as Zephyr choked.

"You could say that." Zephyr sighed and relaxed. "Michelle is young, but despite her rough edges, she learns fast and she has a good soul. She will do well. They need me, Mother."

"This isn't just about me, is it?" Kat asked. Again, Zephyr shook her head. "Do I have a need to know?"

"I um… I don't know." Zephyr looked at Brianna who shrugged. She looked and yes, that _was_ Nikis slouching by a back wall. He shrugged too. Then she looked at someone else. The woman wore a golden gown and Kat went still as she realized all four of the warframe that surrounded the woman were primes. The gowned woman wasn't highest Orokin caste, but… The _only_ time Kat had ever seen _four_ prime warframes guarding _anyone_ , it had turned out to be a son of the Emperor! The gown too was marked with familiar symbols. Royalty.

"Princess?" Kat said softly and the woman nodded. "Lorinos lied about his past. I know he did. He called himself a prince, but he wasn't one."

"We know." The woman's smile was kind, but her eyes held anger. It was not directed at Kat. "My mother will have words with him about that and _many_ other things when Brianna finally lets him out of the sensory deprivation chamber she has him in."

More than one person winced at that. There was an undercurrent to the words and Kat went still as she realized the Royal Guards were not focused on her, they were focused on Brianna! Wait! The healer had said that she had been changed between castes! Against her will, but Orokin law didn't care about such things! The penalty for such was clear. Oh no! No one had weapons in hand, but they were going to _kill_ her!

"No!" Everything stopped as Kat released Zephyr and placed herself between Brianna and the Princess. All four warframes looked at the princess who shook her head firmly and they relaxed. "She is not at fault!"

"Kat, be calm." Brianna said quietly, not moving. "What was done to me was blasphemy and heresy and all sorts of other evils mixed. I cannot be allowed to exist, Kat. There are others here who may or may not be able to be saved. Me? My fate was sealed when Lorinos subjected me to the Red Vial. The castes were inviolate for a _reason_. There are barriers set for a reason. I am not high caste, but I have the power of such. This _cannot_ stand."

"Brianna Executor, you _are_ high caste." The Princess said slowly. "What I saw of you before and what I have seen now? You are everything Orokin _should_ have been. Mother is talking to many people as we speak. No one will rush into judgment. No one will dare."

"Especially _now_." Kat turned to Brianna, crossed her arms so her palms were at her shoulders and bowed her head. "Sister to sister, yours in life and death!"

The Tenno Oath of Clan? Of comradeship? Of Duty? The words that a Tenno used to merge his or her self and service to a warlord! The words spoken by the First apprentices of Hayden Tenno to cement their service to him and his cause. But? To _Brianna?_

" _What?_ " The incredulous word came from almost every single throat. Brianna's voice in particular was shrill.

All but _one_ throat.

Everything went still as Nikis started to clap. No one dared move as the Grandmaster of the Dead rose from his slouch and suddenly, two female forms stood beside him. Both women wore white and both had faces shrouded by white veils. They too were clapping. Not mocking. Honestly appreciative.

"Nicely done, Kat. I knew they dragged you to several ceremonies way back when." Nikis had a wide smile in his voice. "Seeing as how you are pretty much untouchable, now-"

"Nikis! I can't!" Brianna was so aghast she probably didn't even realize she had interrupted him. " _I_ _am dead_ _!_ "

"Could have fooled me." Nikis snickered at her expression. Yeah, he would know the difference, would he not? The Orokin woman gaped at him. "Close your mouth, darling. Flies will get in." The Princess was gaping as well, but then _she_ smiled.

"A bit odd." The Orokin royalty present allowed. "But totally legal. She binds to you and you bind to her and no one can touch either of you."

"But… But..." Brianna was all but crying and Kat did not move. "Kat! I _can't!_ "

"You can deny it." Kat didn't move, didn't seem to be breathing except she had to be to be talking. "But this is my choice. I refuse to let the horrors of our past define who and what we are. I will need help." She smiled a bit forlornly. "Please?"

"I..." Now Brianna was crying. "I can't… I want to, but I can't. This is heresy."

"Is it?" The Princess asked. "Reverend Mother? What is the difference between heresy and orthodoxy?" She turned to the Reverend Mother who had been watching all this with a slight smile on her face. She tilted her head in inquiry and the Clergywoman shook her head.

"Point of view." The Reverend Mother said flatly. She shook her head as Brianna stared at her. "Nothing more. Yes, to traditional Orokin, what happened to you was all kinds of wrong, Brianna. To _us?_ " She shrugged. "You are alive and you are still our friend. We will watch, but the rest? No."

"But..." Brianna slumped and then jerked as an angry voice sounded from nearby.

" _NIKIS!_ "

Nikis jerked and then vanished in a haze of gold. The two women who had been beside him looked at each other and vanished as well.

Kat stilled as an absolutely _furious_ woman ran into the room. She stopped short on seeing Kat and Brianna facing each other. She visibly calmed herself as everyone stared at her.

"What did I miss?" Healer Iriana asked sourly.

"Um,..." Brianna swallowed hard. Then she sighed deeply and nodded to Kat. "Sister to sister, yours in life and death." Everyone nodded to them as Kat bowed to Brianna. Then Brianna looked at Iriana whose face was still flushed with anger. "Um…. Healer? Is there a problem?"

"Not when I catch Nikis, there won't be." Iriana's tone promised pain. "That _lying_ little..." She looked at Kat and again, visibly restrained herself. "Kat?" She asked as Kat moved to stand by Brianna whose face was still shocked.

"I am okay." Kat reassured the Healer. "And I may have an idea that might benefit us all." Everyone looked at her and Kat smiled. "I am not a warrior. I don't want to be one. But I also don't want evil to go unanswered. So… Brianna? Will you remain here?"

"For now." Brianna said softly. "The shades are stuck here and I have prisoners who cannot leave either. What is your idea?"

"Hospice."


	20. Chapter 20

**Family  
**

Mary woke up from her latest nap to find someone new sitting beside her bed. She had met so many people recently that her head was spinning, but she was Tenno. She was well trained for being only seven. She nodded to the woman before she realized that the woman was transparent! A shade? Here? She had talked to Master Richard and others since her ordeal had ended so it didn't frighten her, but she didn't know this being.

"Hello, Mary. My name is Kalina." The woman smiled at the bedridden girl who smiled back a bit hesitantly. "Nikis wanted to be here, but he has valid reasons not to be. He asked some of us to sit with you. I hope you don't mind."

"He is very busy." Mary sank back in the bed and it shifted to accommodate her. "I am surprised he wastes so much time with me."

"Mary." Kalina chided the girl gently. "It is not a waste. You were hurt, you are getting better, but it will take some time. You are chafing at the inactivity and many people are working to see if they can help, but for now? You are stuck here. Even such as Nikis understand that. He is not a good Tenno, but he tries to be. Especially now." She frowned. "Can I ask your help with something?" Mary perked up and Kalina rushed to continue. "You can say 'No'."

"With what?" Mary inquired politely. "I am sort of stuck."

"Healer Iriana is very angry with Nikis." Kalina nodded as Mary's eyes went huge. "She has cause. He never actually lied to her, but he never told the whole truth either."

"That angers me when people do such to me." Mary mused and Kalina nodded. "What about?"

"Once, long ago, Nikis had a family." Kalina said very quietly. "A mate, children, all of that. Most of them were Tenno. Most perished in time. Only one became a warrior."

"Dustin." Mary said weakly and Kalina nodded, her face sad. "That was his only child who became Tenno?"

"Actually, no." Kalina sighed as Mary looked blank. "Dustin was the only one who chose the Warrior's path and took up a warframe. All of the others lived full lives as Tenno or human and perished as mortals long before Dustin was created by the madmen who took and hurt me." Mary went still at that and Kalina nodded. "They lived, loved, had children or no and then went to their rewards."

"You…? Were...?" Mary swallowed as Kalina nodded.

"I met Nikis a very long time ago." Kalina had a slightly goofy grin on her face now. "He was scary, dangerous, all of that. But he made me feel safe. He made me feel warm and safe and for Tenno? That was rare. I did love him and he loved me. We had kids and we loved them all. His job is horrible. The kids and I did what we could. It never seemed enough."

"He is a good Tenno." Mary was not expecting Kalina to scoff. "What?"

"Nikis is a very _bad_ Tenno who _tries_ to do good." Kalina corrected the girl with a grin. "Thing is, Mary, Nikis knows what he is. He knows that he has enemies who would give _anything_ to be able to hurt him. He knows who most of them are and most of them are very careful about angering him, with good reason." Her grin was slightly weak now.

"I will say." Mary gulped. Nikis was scary even when he wasn't trying to be. "So, what?"

"This will come out soon, and I hoped to do it another way, but things went awry as they often do." Kalina said with a sigh. "I need to explain to Iriana and she is going to be angry. This is the only time I can talk to her. Can I talk to her here?" She was all but begging!

"Why here?" Mary asked, looking around the room that was her home. Hand drawn art decorated the walls, provided by her family and classmates. Some was very good, some was not. She loved it all.

"I sleep most of the time." Kalina said softly. "Most of the shades do now." Mary nodded, mystified. "And um, Nikis doesn't know _I_ am here." She admitted and Mary paled.

"Am I going to get in trouble for this?" The girl asked weakly.

"No." Kalina promised. "Master Richard promised that you would not. If anyone? Nikis will blame me and him. Not you." Mary relaxed at the shade's words. "Richard was supposed to come. You like talking to him." Mary nodded, a small smile creeping onto her face. "But um, he knew that Nikis won't speak of this. That the old fart feels ashamed. Not that he had anything to do with it. Neither did I. I was dead by then. But we do bear some responsibility. So we must own it."

"Why me?" Mary asked.

"Your family history was lost along with so much else in the Collapse." Kalina said quietly. "Your colony was founded by a small group of Tenno who fled the chaos. A small family. Ten souls, all told. All related. It expanded in time and grew as other Tenno found it and settled there, but the family remained."

"I didn't know that." Mary said softly.

"Mavri does, but he is sworn to silence on it. I will ask your oath before I leave." Kalina was still quiet, almost reflective. Mary nodded, still mystified. "You feel safe around Iriana. You know who she fell in love with, whose Mishka's father is, no?"

"I have heard." Mary said with a growl. "And I don't _care!_ Iriana is nice! Mishka is nice! If others won't or can't see that, then that is _their_ problem."

"Good girl." Kalina smiled a bit sadly. "Iriana is coming and she is bringing someone special to meet you. I need you to introduce me properly as soon as she appears."

"I don't know your family name." Mary said slowly but paused as Kalina smiled.

"Yes, you do, Mary." Kalina's smile was full of joy now. "It is the same as yours."

Mary's eyes went huge at that, but then the door opened and Iriana came in, her face serene. Said serene look faded as she saw who was sitting beside Mary's bed. The Healer opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Mary did.

"Healer Iriana, may I present Kalina Pangolin?" Mary asked quietly. "She said you don't know her full name." Iriana gaped at Mary and then at Kalina who nodded.

"He didn't lie, Iriana." The shade said quietly. "For a long time after he met you, he didn't _know_. When he _did_ figure it out? It was safer for you not to say anything. It is not safe to be related to him and you know it." Mary stared from the shade to the healer and back, her mouth forming an 'O' in her surprise. "Yes, you too. And no, Mary, that is not why he is nice to you. Or,..." She paused. "...not the _only_ reason. Finding out that way was a shock, no doubt, Healer and for that, you have my sympathy. Shocks are far too common around that Tenno."

"Does that mean I can call him 'Grandpa'?" Mary asked slyly and both women stared at her. Then both started to laugh.

"Please _do!_ " Iriana said between laughs. "I want to _watch!_ " Kalina nodded, her own face radiant.

"Only in private." Mary said softly. Then she tensed. "Are we being recorded?"

"No." Kalina reassured her. "Iriana is here to talk to you and her 'guest' will cause problems with the machinery, so much of it is shut of. Hence why I can be here, now."

"You have been talking with an Oracle." Iriana's face was close again.

" _Several_ of them, actually." Kalina replied. "Including Janet and Caroline. _They_ are not happy with him at the moment either. They _all_ take family very seriously. Please, Iriana… I know this is hard to accept, but he _did_ mean well. Your family never had a surname that you knew of." Iriana shook her head. "It is Pangolin." Mary smiled as Iriana swallowed hard. The girl held out a hand to Iriana.

"I knew you were special the moment I saw you the first time, Mary." Iriana said weakly as she moved to Mary's bedside and took her hand. "But _this?_ "

"You are not alone, Iriana." Kalina said quietly. "The entire family will be shamed when they realize what happened to you and why. Leaving aside who the father is, they left you to raise your child alone. That wasn't right."

"The Pangolin family was always nice to me." Iriana said weakly and Mary gripped her hand tight. "Did they know?" Kalina shook her head. "I see."

"Mavri did, but he is sworn to secrecy." Kalina growled. "Silly Tenno and their secrets! Gah!" This last was so long suffering that both other females smiled. Kalina shook her head. "Now that you are here, I have to go, Iriana. Mary?" She said but the girl was way ahead of her.

"Sword and soul, blood and bone, may my own blade end me if I transgress." Mary said softly. "Family now, family forever." She squeezed Iriana's hand. "Does that make you my Aunt?" She asked the Healer who looked at Kalina.

"A little more distant than that, but I don't think she will mind if you call her that." Kalina smiled as Iriana shook her head with a smile. The shade bowed. "Be well, my kin." She vanished.

"I..." Mary slumped a bit as Iriana looked at her. "I am sorry, Healer. We wronged you."

"Mary, _you_ didn't know any more than _I_ did." Iriana reassured her. "Any more than _Nikis_ did apparently. Still want to hurt him, but..." She shook her head. "That is mainly _how_ I found out. It was a _heck_ of a shock."

"He doesn't do things halfway, does he?" Mary slumped in relief. Iriana did not release her hand. "Healer?"

"I just got done talking to your parents." Iriana said very quietly. "I just met someone who can help you recover faster."

Mary stared at her. Every doctor had said she would be months recovering from her ordeal even with the best Tenno medical tech. No one had tried to sugar coat it. Even Iriana had been adamant that it would take a long time.

"Oh?" Mary was curious, but wary. After all the pain she had endured, who could blame her?

"Several people actually." Iriana smiled at Mary. "Are you up to meet someone a bit different? She wants to be a healer, but she has had a rough life and has difficulty as a result. You won't be able to touch her, or she you, but she _can_ help. She wants to."

"You have always been nice to me and told me the facts as you know them." Mary said slowly. "Other docs..."

Her face fell as she recalled her imprisonment in the supposedly secure psychological care unit. The doctors responsible for such would not be practicing medicine again. Indeed, they were lucky to be alive after what had happened to Mary had come out. Bad enough they had locked her in an isolation cell. Then they had forgotten about her. When Mary had been found after escaping from the cell and then being trapped elsewhere? Iriana of all people had threatened to kill the docs and she was hardly the only Tenno to do so.

"No other doctor will touch you without your permission, Mary." A new voice sounded and Mary's eyes bulged again as a transparent form appeared because Iriana. The girl didn't look much older than Mary, but her eyes were flashing with blue energy. She was sitting in an odd chair and-

"Zarimon?" Mary blurted. She had heard some. Doctors and nurses gossiped as they worked. Both Iriana and the newcomer nodded, but both went still as Mary exclaimed. Not in fear, but in pleased surprise! "You are a _kid?_ "

The girl and Iriana stared at each other and then, as one, they laughed.

"And here we were worried I might freak you out, Mary." The newly come girl said with a smile. No, that was a _grin!_ "Technically, no, I am not a child. Or..." She made a face. "I am, but I haven't aged since the accident. So, it is weird and many people freak out because of that or other things."

"You don't freak me out." Mary reassured the other. "I am Mary, you are?"

"My first name was lost in the accident and the madness that resulted." The girl said quietly. "My adoptive mother called me 'Falcon'. I use that name."

"Well met, Falcon." Mary nodded to the ageless girl in front of her. "I am pleased to meet you. But um? How can you help me?"

"You went through an incredibly traumatic ordeal, Mary. I understand such traumas." Falcon explained as Iriana gave Mary's hand another squeeze. "I cannot wave my hand and make it all go away, but just recently, we met someone who can help. Someone who is a bit different." Mary just looked a her and Falcon grinned again. "Yeah, coming from me, that is saying something." Her tone was wicked and Mary snickered. "It has to be your choice, Mary. We can take you there and she can help. _They_ can help. But it has to be your choice."

"Take me where?" Mary was not denying it, she was seeking clarification.

"The location has to remain secret." Iriana warned. "But _what_ it is… Do you know the word 'Hospice'?"

"Um, no." Mary said after a moment of thought. "That is not a word I know."

"I am not surprised." Iriana reassured her. "It is an ancient word. In the time of the First Tenno, a hospice was a home providing care for the sick, especially the terminally ill." Mary stared at her and Iriana shook her head. "You are not dying and you will not for a long time if any have anything to say about it but you _are_ sick."

"I try to be brave, Healer." Mary said weakly. "I try so hard."

"I know." Iriana squeezed her hand again. "Your strength and courage shame many _warriors_ , Mary." The healer said quietly as Mary pinked a little. The girl didn't know what to say to that, so she looked at Falcon who smiled.

"You are brave, Mary." Falcon said gently. "And you know what? Iriana doesn't know this yet. I wanted to tell you both at once." Iriana spun to glare at the transparent girl, but Falcon was unmoved. "I just found out. _We_ just found out. You were _right_ , Mary."

"Right?" Mary inhaled as she remembered her last talk with Nikis. "About?" She breathed, scared.

"Tenno Aziz threw his existence away to keep from enslaving the Library. To prevent anyone _else_ from being able to do so." Falcon said quietly. "Say what you will about the Library, it is not evil. It had a plan to save him."

"He..." Now _Iriana_ paled and Mary gave _her_ hand a squeeze.

"His energy is scattered." Falcon said softly. "The Library is recovering it. It will take some time and we do not know what shape he will be in when he returns but he _will_ return to us."

"I..." Mary stared as a tear fell down the Healer's face. "I was so mean to him."

"You had cause." Mary squeezed the Healer's hand again. "Who could have expected him to do that? Most would have seen such power and been corrupted by it. He was kind to me. I hope to thank him in person someday."

"That is unlikely." Falcon warned. Both others looked at her. "His energy was widely scattered. It will take a _long_ time to recover. Centuries at the very least."

"Then I will leave a message for him expressing my thanks." Mary said firmly and then she shook her head. "Healer? You say this new being can help me?"

"I do." Healer Iriana said formally. "There is a lot of negative emotion there. A lot of bad thing happened there and a lot of people will be working to help clean up the mess. You can help too."

"Me?" Mary inquired, staring at the Healer. "What can I do from a bed?" She was not expecting Falcon to giggle. "What?"

"What can _I_ do from a _chair?_ " The Zarimon child asked with a lilt in her voice. "There are a number of scared beings there. People who have been abused. Hurt. They need courage and you? You have that in abundance. You can be an example. Add to that? You are kind and tolerant of others who are different. Not every Tenno can say that. Not even all of _my_ kin." She said sourly.

"I can help?" Mary asked, still unsure. "Will I be able to see my family?"

"Any time you wish." Iriana and Falcon chorused. They looked at each other with such similar looks that Mary giggled. Then the girl sobered.

"If my aid is needed, and I am able, then I will aid." Mary said formally. "I am Tenno. I serve."

"And in helping others, you will help yourself." Falcon bowed from the neck. "Prepare yourself, Tenno."

Mary took a deep breath, but before she could do more, the world flashed golden and she was elsewhere. She lay on another bed. An incredibly comfortable bed and she was surrounded by golden machinery, but it was fading? Vanishing into the walls? She might have been frightened, but when she looked, Falcon and Iriana stood beside her bed. She smiled at them and they smiled back. Then her attention was drawn to the pair of women who stood by a door.

They looked nothing alike. So why did they seem so similar? The human woman had dark skin and dark hair, the _Orokin…_ Wait? An _Orokin?!_ Mary went totally still as both woman smiled at her.

"Hello, Mary." The Orokin female said with a nod. "My name is Brianna Executor, you may call me Brianna. This is Kat." The dark haired woman nodded with a matching smile. "We hope you can help us."

Mary stared at them and then at Iriana whose face was fit to burst with her smile. Falcon looked serene, but Mary could almost feel her own amusement. Mary felt a smile creep across her own face.

"How can I help you?" Mary asked as she relaxed. "I have no chosen my Path yet, and have lot of learning yet to do."

"This situation is a bit odd." Brianna reassured her. "Mainly, you need time to heal and I can provide everything you need here. What I need from you is an example for my pack of someone strong who is not a warrior."

"I am not strong." Mary protested, only to have everyone scoff at her. "I am _not!_ I can barely _move_."

"Physically, no." Brianna took a step forward, Kat at her heels. "Mentally? You are stronger than everyone else here put together. We could use your help, Mary, but no one will take choice from you. Not here. You can leave anytime you want."

"I don't see how I can help." Mary replied, still mystified.

She went still a horde of gray energy forms appeared behind Brianna. Most looked small. Some looked sort of like people, others not even close. She fought not to stare. Iriana nodded.

"Don't try to be someone else, my dear niece." Iriana said as Mary stared at her. "Just be yourself. That is all we ask."

"Um, do they know?" Mary inquired and everyone laughed.

"Yeah, her cover is fairly well blown here." Brianna snickered as Iriana made a rude gesture her way.

" _Hey!_ Not in front of the _kids!_ " Mary said quickly and everyone laughed again.

This time, Mary joined them and she knew she was home.

* * *

A private virtual world

"I didn't do it. You didn't do it. The Reverend Mother didn't do it. Who _did?_ " Nikis wasn't angry for once. The unarmored Tenno was unsettled as he sat on the bed next to his mate. "Who sent Kat to the Clergy?"

"We can't see it, Nikis." Janet was quiet, contemplative as she lay beside him, her form was covered by a sheet and from how the bed was rumpled? It took no imagination to knew what they had been doing. "It wasn't psionic, whatever it was. Besides, shades don't react the same to psionics. Jesse could have done it, but she was busy. No cyberlancers were anywhere nearby. Ess could have, but she didn't do it either. She was just as shocked when Kat wound up there as any, if pleased. She knew Banshee would help if not _quite_ that way."

"What is she up to now? Or do I want to know?" Nikis asked.

"She is trying to help Abigail and Kieko." Janet said in a very quiet voice. "I… Nikis..." She was crying soft as he gathered her up, sheet and all. "I don't think there is anything anyone can do but let them go their own way now."

"No." Nikis hugged his mate gently. "The people they were are gone, wiped by that nut's madness. Is Brianna going to give him to Eliza?"

"Eventually." Janet's voice turned flat. "Maybe in a year or two. He will likely fall all over himself to beg the Empress to destroy him by then. If _anyone_ deserves such, he does. If there is anyone he hasn't hurt by this, I can't see them."

"If she does, _I_ get his ass." From Nikis' tone, the nut would not enjoy what happened. For a long, _long_ time. Then he shook his head. "You know? There is _one_ person who would have done it that way. A gentle nudge from the shadows to send events into motion. To help so many with such a small tap of the datastreams. That was her style."

"Nikis, the Lotus is gone."

" _Is_ she?"


End file.
